Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

DPA/PA Images

Flying taxis and Ireland's own 'supersonic' train: The future of public transport

Hyperloop pods could cover the Dublin to Cork route in 15 minutes flat.

The way we live is changing fast. Every fortnight in our new Future Focus series, supported by Volkswagen, we’ll look at how one aspect of everyday life could change in the coming years. This week: public transport.

‘ROADS? WHERE WE’RE going, we don’t need roads.’

When 2015 rolled around and hoverboards or flying cars still weren’t the transport norm, we scoffed that Back to the Future II had gotten it all wrong.

But three years later, Doc Browne’s assertion isn’t all that far away from the truth. Right now, you can put a deposit down for a PAL-V Liberty Pioneer Edition – otherwise known as a flying car.

The three-wheeled PAL-V Liberty can reach speeds of 160kmh on the ground and 180kmh in the sky. The Pioneer Edition will set you back €499,000, and the Sport Edition, which will be released at a later date, will cost a mere €299,000.

The first set of keys for the PAL-V, the world’s first commercially available flying car, will be handed over in 2019. It’s not quite as soon as Back to the Future predicted, but it seems like we’re on the way.

For the PAL-V Liberty you’ll need a pilot’s licence as well as a driver’s licence, but it’s not the only flying car in production.

Chinese-owned manufacturer Terrafugia, based in Massachusetts, has two flying cars in the pipeline for the coming years. The second of two, the TFX, is expected to fly autonomously – meaning you won’t need more than a driver’s licence to soar through the sky.

So, perhaps Doc wasn’t wrong. But while flying cars will fulfil the childhood dreams of many, their high price point means they’ll probably continue as the toys of the very wealthy, rather than becoming a daily mode of transport.

For those of us without a few hundred thousand euro in the bank, there are plenty of changes ahead in the world of public transport too.

Flying taxis are expected to be tested by Uber from 2020 and launched commercially from 2023. They’ll fly passengers from rooftop to rooftop in cities, avoiding the ground entirely.

Uber has signed a deal with none other than NASA to develop its 200mph electric aircraft for trial in three selected cities worldwide. By the time LA hosts the 2028 Olympics, flying Ubers are expected to be fully operational there.

Dubai is another one of Uber’s trial locations, but the city has already made significant inroads into a self-flying taxi service with German start-up Volocopter.

Volocopter VC200 The two-seater Volocopter VC200 drone in action in Germany in 2016. DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

Back in September, Volocopter began trials with its two-seater vehicle, the Volocopter 2X, in the city.

The trials will continue for five years, and by 2030, it’s hoped autonomous vehicles will handle a quarter of all journeys in Dubai.

As for busses, while a flying commute home is a fair way off yet, driverless busses on the ground are already becoming the standard in locations around the world.

Self-driving buses have been running since 2016 on a pedestrianised route in Sion, Switzerland, and in the last few weeks they have begun to navigate regular traffic too.

In parts of the US and Europe, university students can ‘hail’ a driverless minibus via app to ferry them around campus. Olli busses are 3D-printed too, meaning manufacturing costs are low, and labour hours even lower.

Test run of driverless mini bus 'Olli' An Olli test run in Berlin, Germany in 2016. DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

But if you want to go full-on Futurama, possibly the most revolutionary form of public transport in our future is hyperloop, which first came into public imagination when Elon Musk issued a white paper on the subject in 2012.

Hyperloop is a theoretical (for now) transportation system made up of pods which travel through underground tunnels. Using magnetic accelerators in a low-pressure tube, hyperloop pods can move at the speed of sound, meaning that a journey from Dublin to Cork would take less than fifteen minutes.

CA: Corporations in California A Hyperloop test track at the SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California. SIPA USA / PA Images SIPA USA / PA Images / PA Images

Since Musk’s paper, businesses have been working on turning the idea into a reality. Hardt Global Mobility is aiming to build a hyperloop between Amsterdam and Paris by 2021 – a very lofty aim.

Here in Ireland, we have some skin in the game too. In February of this year, Team Éirloop beat around 700 entrants to reach the final 20 in Elon Musk’s annual Hyperloop Pod Student Competition.

Made up of students from colleges all over the country, Team Éirloop members will travel to California in July 2018 to show off their invention.

“Our pod will go at 540kmh. It’s faster than the fastest Formula One cars and it’s coming from Ireland,” says Akhil Voorakkara, spokesperson and head of electronics for Éirloop.

“It’s not just about doing something really cool, it’s about showing the world that Ireland is… a real force for the future.”

eirloop Part of Team Eirloop's prototype vision. Facebook / Team Eirloop Facebook / Team Eirloop / Team Eirloop

Team Éirloop members are currently fundraising to buy parts for their pod, and to transport both it and themselves to California.

Could hyperloop ever be a realistic transport model for Ireland, though? “We do understand how long it takes for countries and governments to make this kind of stuff happen,” says Voorakkara.

“We’ve got our pod planned so that despite being a prototype, it will be able to transport cargo. We see this as a realistic application for Ireland in the near enough future… We might not be the first country to get it, but we’re definitely going to get it.”

If Voorakkara’s prediction sounds unrealistic, it’s worth noting that the company working on the Paris to Amsterdam hyperloop system is a former winner of the same SpaceX contest.

With that in mind, it was no doubt somewhat disappointing for future-focused types like Voorakkara to read the Ireland 2040 plans and see no mention of hyperlood. Instead, the big reveal for public transport was merely a metro service which other European countries have had for decades.

Where Ireland is going, we’ll definitely need roads, for the time being at least. But if the enthusiasm of Team Éirloop is anything to go by, Ireland’s public transport will be leading at least some of the advances into the future.

To donate to Team Éirloop, see www.gofundme.com/eirloop or see www.eirloop.ie

More Future Focus: Bye-bye pizza guy, no more spice bag shame: The future of getting a takeaway>

More Future Focus: No more queues, no more supermarket aisles: The future of the Big Shop>

Close
51 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shelly Levine
    Favourite Shelly Levine
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:17 PM

    A crazy futuristic idea I know but busses running to schedule? A rail link to the airport? Yeah what am I thinking!

    274
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Slim Jim
    Favourite Slim Jim
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 9:43 PM

    @Shelly Levine: That’s too far fetched for even a Sci-fi movie.

    66
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Daniel Wilson
    Favourite Daniel Wilson
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:10 PM

    @Shelly Levine: Hyperloop negates all that. Literally the closest thing we will get to teleporting. Governments should be pouring money into these things.

    24
    See 4 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Nek nedyah
    Favourite Nek nedyah
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:29 PM

    @Daniel Wilson: Pouring money being the operative word .

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute A Piece of Chalk
    Favourite A Piece of Chalk
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:30 PM

    @Daniel Wilson: I’d be very, very surprised if a full scale Hyperloop ever gets built. The technical challenges and cost are extremely prohibitive, to the point where it’s simply not viable. Flight and traditional, high speed rail travel are proven models that come without all the problems that come with the HL. It’s a pipe dream (pun very much intended)

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sloop John G
    Favourite Sloop John G
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 1:46 PM

    @Shelly Levine: flying taxis? How would that work? Would there be a limit to how high they fly? Would you need a dedicated Air Traffic Control just for flying cars to stop them from crashing into each other? Would they require a runway to take off and land or just lift off like a helicopter? Sounds like a great idea but, if you pardon the pun, I can’t see it taking off :-)

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute RoryByrne
    Favourite RoryByrne
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 4:49 PM

    @A Piece of Chalk: it’s cheaper to lay rail lines and dig out roads? Have you been to Ireland in the past 25 years. Hyperloops would be a fraction of the cost of a railway or road.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute xor
    Favourite xor
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:15 PM

    LOL

    114
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The Opus Child
    Favourite The Opus Child
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:20 PM

    Probably will be automated to go on strike on a yearly basis

    97
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute noBankAccBertie
    Favourite noBankAccBertie
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:20 PM

    All these technologies have been cracked decades ago…nikola resla cracked anti gravity technology but was surpressed by the elites in favour of fossil technology.

    65
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Matt Donovan
    Favourite Matt Donovan
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:25 PM

    @noBankAccBertie: I’ve heard this before & found it intriguing but other than tin foil hat merchants I’ve never read anything that would really support that idea. There is a certain logic to it though.

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute A Piece of Chalk
    Favourite A Piece of Chalk
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 9:01 PM

    @noBankAccBertie: Interestingly, Trump has connections to Tesla, via his uncle, John.

    10
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Martin Byrne
    Favourite Martin Byrne
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 9:30 PM

    @noBankAccBertie: cuckoo

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Barra O Brien
    Favourite Barra O Brien
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 11:55 PM

    @noBankAccBertie: tell us about the ether and his death ray…

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shaun Gallagher
    Favourite Shaun Gallagher
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:37 PM

    I needed s good laugh this evening. Thanks Journal

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richard Cronin
    Favourite Richard Cronin
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:07 PM

    So when do we get jet packs

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Considine
    Favourite John Considine
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:18 PM

    @Richard Cronin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMWYeP7O1w

    There’s better videos than that, but that one explains it pretty simply. All credit to the lunatic who flies it at 60mph.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Séamus McCallion
    Favourite Séamus McCallion
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:46 PM

    the only hyperloops are journal “journalists”

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Colm Cooke
    Favourite Colm Cooke
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:21 PM

    How about a train to the countries main airport like all other prosperous countries?

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Lang
    Favourite Michael Lang
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:23 PM

    We can dream but we need to remember dreams and reality are not the same.

    Look at the energy expenditure of these future forms of transport.

    If we had unlimited energy production, there is much that we could do , but the cost and capacity of energy production are the great limiters.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute noBankAccBertie
    Favourite noBankAccBertie
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:46 PM

    @Michael Lang: again tesla developed the technology to harness the suns energy which would of have meant unlimited free energy for all…but again this was surpressed.

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Nek nedyah
    Favourite Nek nedyah
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 9:59 PM

    @noBankAccBertie: Bertie Aherne did the same , but the shoe box he kept it in was destroyed by the Illuminati .

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny Mason
    Favourite Johnny Mason
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:27 PM

    All sounds Fantastic but a nice spot of Tea beats that lot any time looking into the future

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Lydia McLoughlin
    Favourite Lydia McLoughlin
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:28 PM

    I wanna know whose liable if one of these things falls out of the sky!! I’d hate my insurance to rocket sky high!

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cormac McKay Dublin
    Favourite Cormac McKay Dublin
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 9:10 PM

    I’m having a public meeting about the above on Tuesday 10th April in the Skylon Hotel Drumcondra about canceling MetroLink and investing in real 21st-century transport all are welcome to attend see the presentation and Q&A after https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/cancel-metrolink-dublin-tickets-44655181851

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ronan Fahy
    Favourite Ronan Fahy
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:42 PM

    @Cormac McKay Dublin: highly irresponsible to advocate cancelling the most critically needed transport project in the country in favour of currently theoretical maybe feasible in the future, unproven technology

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Harris
    Favourite Dave Harris
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 11:54 PM

    @Ronan Fahy: in fairness, you are making a leap there – Cormac did not mention hyperloop. there are many other technologies that can be explored as a solution

    1
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andrew Ashmore
    Favourite Andrew Ashmore
    Report
    Apr 13th 2018, 12:37 AM

    @Cormac McKay Dublin: Hi Cormac , how did your meeting go? From what i can see the metro should be cancelled. Its out of date already. Too slow , and doesnt provide a direct road shortcut from south to north ,kinda like the east side of the M50.Just seen your post now , would have went to the meeting.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute dick dastardly
    Favourite dick dastardly
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:36 PM

    It’s only for the rich people,normal folk will still be stuck with bad public transport

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kevin Walsh
    Favourite Kevin Walsh
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 11:42 PM

    Never happen in Ireland

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tony Stack
    Favourite Tony Stack
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 11:01 PM

    I would settle for a metro underground

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Farley
    Favourite Gavin Farley
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:32 PM

    Can’t get something somewhat simple like the Luas ruining without major issues

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jonathan Ross
    Favourite Jonathan Ross
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:05 PM

    We are always paddy last for everything.i remember when call cards came out we all thought they where unreal.turned out by the time we got them they were being discontinued in America.metrolink is balls ,look into something more suited for the future of Dublin’s rapidly growing population.though that may slow down if the 8th comes in

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Nek nedyah
    Favourite Nek nedyah
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:21 PM

    @Jonathan Ross: At least the ferries would be freed up if we repeal the 8th .

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute john brown
    Favourite john brown
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 9:22 PM

    Dont think so couldn’t even let uber in.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Walsh
    Favourite Dave Walsh
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:59 PM

    La.la. land…

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Nek nedyah
    Favourite Nek nedyah
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 8:39 PM

    I would have laughed , if 40 years ago someone told me that in the 21st century we would be driving around in toasters , now I just shake my head .

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Hardly Normal
    Favourite Hardly Normal
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 11:54 PM

    @Nek nedyah: you must have wet yourself when someone told you that someday, you’ll be able to comment on a newspaper article using your phone.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Watchful Axe
    Favourite Watchful Axe
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 11:27 PM

    Is Google working on a nighttime street view? I seen one of their vehicles going around at nine or ten at night.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Hammond
    Favourite Dave Hammond
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 10:36 AM

    @Watchful Axe: eh yes I can confirm thats exactly what Google is working on – nighttime Streetview – won’t be rolled out until 2020 and is for over 18s as kids should be out after dark using sat naps anyways , they also confirmed they have the new google phones which you will be actually able to make phone calls with – and they are promising they will work 24 hours a day so it must be that.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryo Nakamura
    Favourite Ryo Nakamura
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 11:34 PM

    Bit too late for an April foo joke. This is a country where urban planning is so unpopular, with rain and wind and everything is so spaced out… what good is a flying taxi and public transport?

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jarlath Murphy
    Favourite Jarlath Murphy
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 9:39 PM

    Is this another SCU re-election ploy?

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
    Favourite Patrick J. O'Rourke
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 9:39 AM

    I might suggest that seeing as we can’t even get high speed broadband around Ireland then hyperloops are the preserve of the faeries transport future and not ours.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cionnaith Mac Suibhne
    Favourite Cionnaith Mac Suibhne
    Report
    Apr 8th 2018, 10:59 PM

    Sorry, laughed so hard, I had to change my pants!

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Noel Butler
    Favourite Noel Butler
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 8:32 PM

    High speed rail would solve a lot of the house problems in Ireland if you could live on the west coast and be in Dublin in 30 minutes who wouldn’t want that and all the cars t would take of the road

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Barty
    Favourite Barty
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 7:36 AM

    Pigs will fly long before a proper on time Public transport system is seen in Ireland.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute thesaltyurchin
    Favourite thesaltyurchin
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 7:44 AM

    Mr. Voorakkara, meet the knuckle scrapers. Nice try tho. More please.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Mulligan
    Favourite John Mulligan
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 9:14 AM

    Ah no, shur where’s the voates in thaaaaat?
    We should spind our money on the weshtern rail corridor, shtick in a few shlow thranes ta bring six passengers a day from nowhere ta nowhere.
    Because they have the dart up in Dublin, like.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute thesaltyurchin
    Favourite thesaltyurchin
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 5:17 PM

    @John Mulligan: Lol! that was beautiful!

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Roger Camp
    Favourite Roger Camp
    Report
    Apr 11th 2018, 8:52 PM

    How about a flight link from Cork to Dublin every other airport in Ireland has one except Cork.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tony Mc Donald
    Favourite Tony Mc Donald
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 4:17 AM

    Won’t work… That’s a sci if movie!!

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Declan burke
    Favourite Declan burke
    Report
    Apr 9th 2018, 11:11 AM

    Absolute rubbish,,we havent even got high speed trains ,,

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel