Floating trains as fast as planes? Toronto startup says 1,000km/h speeds could be a reality in the next decade

Imagine getting from Toronto to Montreal in an hour without ever setting foot in an airport.

TransPod, a Toronto-based startup, says it's developing new technology that it says could make that a reality in just over a decade.

The TransPod system design is complete with a fuselage, nose and tail. It floats along the rail magnetically and uses magnets and plasma technology to reach speeds of over 1,000 km/h — in theory anyway — which is about the same as the average commercial plane's cruising speed. The fastest commuter rail in the world right now, in China, can get up to 600 km/h.

"It's built like a plane, but operates like a train," said Ryan Janzen, inventor of the TransPod system, on a tour of the company's facility in Toronto's west end.

If successful, Janzen says he hopes to eventually build special tubed rail infrastructure between Canadian cities, which could get people around the country as fast as commercial air, but without emitting nearly as much carbon since the Transpod runs on electrical power. 

The hope, he says, is to bring train travel back to Canada and make it the fastest, most environmentally friendly mode of transportation available.

The TransPod system powers its trains using plasma technology that creates "virtual wires," both positive and negative, between the rail and the car, said Janzen.

That, along with new technology that keeps the train at exactly the same distance from the rail "with some very fancy control systems and physics," allows the train to float along the track while remaining connected to a power source.

That's what could allow these trains to really fly, he said.

"You don't want to touch … anything. Because everything wears out at high speed," Janzen said.

The same technology that will propel the cars can also be used to stop them, Janzen said, and the floating tracks will make for a smooth ride for passengers on board.

Magnetic levitation trains, or Maglev trains, are used in high-speed rail in Europe and Asia, but the plasma technology developed by TransPod is new, Janzen said, and it's the key to making the company's trains as fast as plane travel.  

The TransPod technology is unique to Canada, Janzen said, and the company's patented it.

The trains will be fully automated, Janzen said, since human drivers couldn't operate them safely at such speeds. Janzen says the company is working with regulators and engineers to guarantee they'll be safe for passenger travel.The trains would operate in elevated or subterranean magnetic tubes, he added.