---
title: "This Rail Gun-Style Elevated Train Goes 500 MPH"
description: "Strategic design consultancy Manyone proposes building an elevated train called the AeroSlider as a way to cut the emissions caused by air travel."
date: "2019-11-26"
modified: "2019-11-26"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elevated-train-goes-500-mph"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "aeroslider"
  - "carbon emissions"
  - "the digest"
  - "train"
---

# This Rail Gun-Style Elevated Train Goes 500 MPH

![Strategic design consultancy Manyone proposes building an elevated train called the AeroSlider as a way to cut the emissions caused by air travel.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/rail-gun-train-500-mph.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Manyone\</em\>*

## Need for Speed

Rather than fly to New York for the United Nations' Climate Action summit in September, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg crossed the Atlantic aboard a [zero-emissions boat](<https://www.npr.org/2019/08/28/754818342/teen-climate-activist-greta-thunberg-arrives-in-new-york-after-sailing-the-atlan>).

That climate-conscious decision transformed what would have been an eight-hour-long trip from London into a two-week-long journey — but a newly proposed [transportation system](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90435778/stand-aside-hyperloop-this-cross-continental-train-aims-to-replace-flying>) could cut the climate cost of long-distance travel without sacrificing speed.

## Flying 2.0

The system is an elevated train called the [AeroSlider](<https://manyone.com/case/exploration-aeroslider/>), and it's the work of strategic design consultancy Manyone.

Rather than resting on tracks, the train floats through a series of magnetized loops 65 feet in the air, *Fast Company* [reports](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90435778/stand-aside-hyperloop-this-cross-continental-train-aims-to-replace-flying>). Those loops propel the train forward, [like a rail gun](<https://futurism.com/chinese-hypersonic-railgun-photo.md>), at speeds upwards of 804 kilometers per hour (500 miles per hour), which is about the [average cruising speed](<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-truths/which-passenger-jet-plane-flies-the-fastest/>) of a plane.

## Brainstorming

Manyone laid out a route for the AeroSlider that would extend from Africa to Europe to Asia. But right now, that route — and everything else about the AeroSlider — is just a concept.

Still, lead designer Guillermo Callau is hopeful that the elevated train will get people thinking about future alternatives to flight — because we're going to need them.

"You would take something a little slower than a flight, but it would be immensely more efficient," Callau told *Fast Company*. "This isn’t just being optimistic. It’s necessary. CO2 tariffs, or taxes on CO2, will make flights way more inaccessible."

**READ MORE:** [Stand aside, hyperloop: This cross-continental train aims to replace flying](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90435778/stand-aside-hyperloop-this-cross-continental-train-aims-to-replace-flying>) \[*Fast Company*\]

**More on flying:** *[Want to Save the Environment? Experts Say You Should Stop Traveling.](<https://futurism.com/save-environment-stop-traveling.md>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)

## More

- [Climate Researcher Fired for Refusing to Fly](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/climate-researcher-fired-refusing-fly.md>)
- [Europe Plots High Speed Rail So Fast It Could Replace Airlines](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/europe-high-speed-rail-replace-airlines.md>)
- [Researchers Strapped a Nail Gun to an Autonomous Drone](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/autonomous-roofing-drone-nail-gun.md>)
- [The UK’s First Flying Taxi Wants to Take You Farther Than Just Across Town](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/evtol-flying-taxi-uk.md>)
- [See China’s Newly Unveiled Maglev Train](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/see-china-new-maglev-train.md>)
- [Tesla Owners Block Gas Pumps in ICEing Protest](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-protest-block-gas-pumps-iceing.md>)
- [The World’s Largest Aircraft Will Carry These Four Launch Vehicles](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/stratolaunch-systems-launch-vehicles.md>)
- [Mercedes-Benz Debuts Dashboard That’s One Giant Touchscreen](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mercedes-benz-hyperscreen-touchscreen-display.md>)