To ride a train that travels through underground tunnels at lightning speed

Vacuum-Tube Trains

You’ve chosen to imagine racing through underground tubes on a lightning-fast train. You might want to learn more about vacuum-tube trains, which use maglev and low-pressure tunnels to reduce resistance. Just don’t get vacuumed up along the way!

Fun Facts:

In 1870, Alfred Beach opened an experimental New York subway that used air to push its car.
In 2024, China tested a full-size maglev vehicle inside a two-kilometer low-vacuum-tube in Shanxi.
In the Netherlands, a test pod has floated through a tube and switched lanes without a moving track switch.

Vacuum-Tube Trains

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This scenario explores vacuum-tube trains, sometimes called vactrains. They often combine two ideas to help us move very fast. First, magnets lift a vehicle so it does not roll on wheels; second, low-pressure tubes remove much of the air pushing against it. China, India, and Europe now have real test tracks for this idea. These systems are still experiments, not everyday passenger trains. And when you do take your first vacuum-tube train ride, don’t get vacuumed up along the way!

Fun Facts:

In 1870, Alfred Beach opened an experimental subway beneath New York City powered by blasts of air.
Japan’s SCMaglev reached 603 kilometers per hour in 2015, setting a world speed record for a maglev train.
In 2020, two Virgin Hyperloop workers became the first people to ride a hyperloop pod, reaching 107 miles per hour in Nevada.
China’s 2024 low-vacuum test sent a full-size maglev vehicle through a two-kilometer tube, where it floated, followed its planned path, and stopped safely.
In 2025, a Hardt Hyperloop test pod switched lanes while levitating inside a 420-meter test tube in the Netherlands.

Discussion Question:

What might change if a long trip suddenly became much shorter?

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Physical Build:

Build your own vacuum-tube train system using cardboard tubes, paper, straws, tape, and a small paper train. Design a tunnel and two stations, then add symbols showing where magnets could lift the train and pumps could remove air. Add emergency exits, accessible entrances, or any other feature you think riders would need.

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Invent three ways a vacuum-tube train could connect two cities safely and fairly.”

Choose the ideas you like, change anything you don’t, and draw a map showing your train, tunnels, stations, and who might use them.

or a cable car that floats above the city, giving you panoramic views as you travel?

Sky Cable Car

Urban Cable Cars

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You’ve chosen to imagine gliding above the city in a cable car with giant windows. You might want to learn more about urban cable cars, which carry everyday riders above hills, roads, and traffic. But remember, you might want to leave the window closed when you’re at 8,000 feet of altitude!

Fun Facts:

New York’s Roosevelt Island Tram opened in 1976 as a temporary connection while subway service was delayed—and it stayed.
Bogotá’s TransMiCable in Colombia cut one steep commute from about an hour to only 13 minutes.
Bolivia’s Mi Teleférico was recognized by Guinness with 10 lines stretching 33 kilometers across La Paz and El Alto.

Urban Cable Cars

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This scenario explores urban cable cars, gondolas used as everyday public transportation. In cities like La Paz and Bogotá, these cable cars already carry people above steep hills, rivers, roads, and traffic for daily trips. They required much less ground space compared with many roads or railways and they can connect neighborhoods that are difficult to reach by bus. Of course, cities still must plan fares, stations, privacy, and access carefully. And you might want to close the window when you’re at 8,000 feet of altitude!

Fun Facts:

New York’s Roosevelt Island Tram opened in 1976 as a temporary transit solution, but it became permanent and now carries millions of riders.
Bolivia’s Mi Teleférico became the world’s largest public-transit cable-car network, with 10 lines and 33 kilometers of track when Guinness measured it in 2019.
Bogotá’s TransMiCable in Colombia uses 163 ten-person cabins and shortened one rush-hour trip from about an hour to 13 minutes.
Mexico City’s Cablebús Line 2 stretches 10.55 kilometers, and riders can look down on colorful murals painted across rooftops below.
In Brest, France, two cable-car cabins pass above and below each other instead of side by side as they cross a river.

Discussion Question:

Who might benefit most from a cable car over a steep neighborhood?

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Physical Build:

Make your own city cable car using string, a paper cup or folded paper, tape, and two chairs or boxes. Stretch the string between two “neighborhoods” and create a tiny cabin that can slide along it. Add stations, then redesign your route so people with different needs can easily reach and ride it.

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Design three cable-car routes for a hilly city, each helping different riders.”

Choose one route and make your own transit map. Add stations, connections to buses or trains, and any features that make your system easier for everyone to use.