UK start-up unveils ‘world first’ autonomous electric pod train

UK start-up Urban.MASS has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first zero-emission mass transit system using autonomous electric ‘pods’ capable of travelling on both road and rail.

The solar-powered self-driving pods, which can seat up to 16 passengers, will move independently to pick up passengers on the ground, then link together along a specially built ground-level or elevated railway track.

The firm’s first operational model is planned to open in 2025 at the UK’s National Railway Museum in Shildon – 200 years after the same site hosted the world’s first passenger steam engine.

Speaking to Cities Today, Kevin O’Grady CEO, Urban.MASS, said: “We’ve presented [the project] to Austin in Texas, Bristol, Liverpool and Kampala, Uganda, who were all interested but wanted to see one working and see the technology together, so once we build the first in Shildon, we believe the adaptation will be very quick from that point.”

O’Grady believes at least ten cities could adopt the technology by 2030, and future passengers could summon a pod using a smartphone app or book online at a pre-determined time in a similar way to hailing an Uber, in exchange for a price set by the town or city it is operating in.

Current regulations would mean the pods could only run in a fenced-off area, however.

The company says the technology is designed to be significantly cheaper and quicker to construct, with a much smaller physical footprint than conventional metro rail, light rail and tram projects.

“Patent nonsense”

But some commentators have already questioned the feasibility of the project, and whether cities should focus instead on expanding and improving their existing infrastructure.

Christian Wolmar, author of Driverless Cars: On a Road to Nowhere?, told Cities Today: “It just seems like some sort of fantasy, I’m speechless. We are nowhere near this kind of technology. We are not even beyond level two, and this is suggesting level five.

“This kind of technology [autonomous vehicles] has been worked on seriously for the past 15 years. And Waymo – which has spent billions of dollars – can at best have the odd robotaxi which is monitored remotely, can only operate only in certain circumstances, can’t run in really terrible weather, and still has quite a high rate of breakdown and so on.

“And you get these technology companies coming along saying we’re going to have these completely driverless pods that can link up and become a train at some point. It’s just patent nonsense.”

O’Grady defended the project, referring to the autonomous pod shuttle service that operates at Heathrow airport, London.

“There’s nothing that we have in our technology that isn’t out there already, we’re just bring these different types together,” he said.

But he admitted that the capacity for the pods to operate on roads isn’t a reality yet: “At the moment we’re not saying that this is going to drive down your road today, but it is what everybody’s aiming towards, and regulation is moving towards.”

Image: Urban.MASS