"Can you demonstrate how this vacuum train operates?" A parent couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"This..." Huang He glanced at Old Chen. Old Chen nodded decisively, "Since you're all here, I'll show you. But remember, when the meeting comes in a few months, you can't hold me back!"
"Don't worry, if this can run smoothly, let alone hold you back, we'll all support you!" someone immediately replied. Old Chen chuckled and led them into the platform.
However, he didn't take them near the train. Instead, he led them up to the second floor of the station, into a large hall filled with various monitoring screens and staff in light yellow uniforms.
Indeed, at first glance, the hall resembled a rocket launch base.
"You've arrived at a good time. We're about to conduct the 151st operational test of High-Speed Train No. 2. You can observe!" Old Chen said, leading everyone to the largest screen in the center of the hall, which was also the best viewing position. Through this screen, the entire situation of High-Speed Train No. 2 could be clearly seen.
"You're lucky. This is our first manned test... Of course, it's not carrying real people, but dummies filled with various force sensors!" As Old Chen finished speaking, the screen switched to a room.
A dozen or so dummies were seated on peculiar chairs that resembled gaming chairs. Meanwhile, staff members were installing sensors on various parts of the dummies and securing them, finally fastening the dummies to these chairs.
It's worth noting that these dummies varied in size.
Some dummies were small and slender, clearly shaped like children.
Others were tall, like Yao Ming.
And some were plump, like PDD.
As for the very large one, it wasn't out of bad taste. In fact, historically, there have been many dangers caused by being overweight, such as not being able to see the way ahead and falling.
Here, it was more about simulating the effects of these muscles under high-speed motion and whether it would cause any awkward experiences.
That was the general idea.
"Wait, why are you fixing the dummies so quickly? Shouldn't you send them into the high-speed train first, and then secure them?" a parent immediately asked, confused.
In his opinion, this was like "pulling up your trousers to fart," as they would have to detach these dummies later and carry them into the train.
"You'll see. We definitely have our reasons!" Old Chen rolled his eyes and then picked up the microphone to ask, "Are all the dummies ready?"
"Report to the Chief Commander, all dummies are installed, and all remote monitoring equipment data is normal," the staff member replied.
"Alright, all personnel evacuate the pre-boarding cabin, release all seat locks, open the high-speed train's moving doors, and dock with the seat track entrance!" Old Chen issued the orders decisively. These instructions left the surrounding parents bewildered.
Could the seats actually move?
Then they witnessed a scene that they would never forget in their lives. The tail of High-Speed Train No. 2, which had been stationary on the ground, began to rotate on its own, like a bottle cap being unscrewed automatically. It folded upward by 90 degrees, opening the entire tail door.
At the same time, the ground behind the tail suddenly began to move. A section of track slowly rose from the ground. Simultaneously, the wall directly facing the tail automatically opened, revealing a dark passage behind it. It was also possible to see tracks extending out from within this passage, perfectly aligning with the tracks rising from the ground.
Similarly, inside the high-speed train, a section of track slowly extended, docking with the tracks rising from the ground, finally completing the connection of the three tracks into a single continuous rail.
Once the tracks were successfully docked, the pre-boarding cabin seats also began to move. These seats, initially arranged in a square pattern, suddenly began to move with their occupants towards the center of the boarding cabin in an orderly fashion. Finally, these dozen or so seats formed a complete straight line, much like a miniature roller coaster.
Then, with a "snap," the roller coaster seats began to move. Simultaneously, the pre-boarding cabin opened a black entrance, and the seats, guided by the tracks below, slowly disappeared into the dark tunnel.
However, soon, the first seat appeared from the newly opened black passage on the station wall. It traveled smoothly along the track that had risen from the ground and directly entered the tail entrance of the vacuum train.
After all the operations and dummies had entered, the raised tracks began to lower, and the tail opening was re-sealed and tightened.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what you have just witnessed is the entire process of passengers entering our vacuum high-speed train system. Don't you find it incredibly impressive!" Old Chen asked proudly. The parents nodded involuntarily.
Indeed, the process was incredibly impressive, almost like watching a sci-fi movie. Passengers entering the carriage with the help of seats – these were concepts only found in futuristic transportation equipment in sci-fi movies. It was simply too cool.
Of course, those in the know understood that this technology wasn't particularly difficult, as roller coasters had been using this type of single-track seat movement technology for over a century. However, when such a scene appeared during the boarding process of a train, it was truly spectacular.
Imagine if, when you ride a high-speed train, instead of having to get your ticket checked at the station, walk to the carriage, lugging a lot of luggage, and then find your seat, like traditional trains.
Instead, you would simply enter a pre-boarding cabin, find a seat, and the seat would automatically take you into the train carriage. This experience was indescribably futuristic.
At least, none of the men present could resist such a scene. They all drooled watching it, as it perfectly fulfilled men's yearning for science fiction.
However, among the parents, there were still some rational individuals who couldn't help but ask, "Old Chen, while this scene is indeed very cool, is it necessary to use such a method to board?"
"Not to mention the extra investment required to create such a boarding system, the boarding speed isn't fast either!"
"For normal passengers, even hundreds of them, they can all enter the train from the platform within 5 minutes. But with your slow movement of seats one by one, it probably takes more than 10 minutes just to board!"
"Not to mention the time reserved for passengers to prepare in the pre-boarding cabin, and the inability to move around in between. Wouldn't that consume even more time?"
Indeed, everyone present was sharp. Although the scene before them was astonishing, upon closer inspection, they realized that this spectacular scene was actually rather useless. It was more of a waste of time and investment.
If all stations were to adopt such a system in the future, the investment just for the seats could easily run into hundreds of millions of yuan.
"We have our necessary reasons for doing this," Old Chen said calmly. "That's right, traditional train carriages allow passengers to board freely. But our carriages are not traditional train carriages; they are vacuum high-speed train carriages!"
"In traditional train carriages, each carriage has five seats placed side by side, with a walkway in between for people to move. After boarding, passengers can move freely within the carriage and find their own seats, which is indeed more convenient and cost-effective."
"But our vacuum high-speed train is different. As you have all seen, the size of the vacuum high-speed train is like a concrete water pipe, with an inner diameter only about 1/6 of that of a traditional train."
"Please look at the surveillance footage from inside the carriage!" Old Chen gestured, and the surveillance footage on the large screen immediately changed, displaying the interior of the vacuum high-speed train. The dozen or so dummy passengers were now all sitting comfortably inside the carriage.
"However, this carriage is very narrow. If you extend your left arm to the right, you can directly touch the right wall. And if a passenger sitting on a chair leans up slightly, they might directly hit the carriage ceiling."
"So, all passengers are arranged front to back, like candied hawthorns in a row, within the carriage. There is no space inside for passengers to move freely."
"As you can see, the carriage is so narrow. If passengers were allowed to enter freely, how would they find their seats? Would they have to crawl around inside the carriage?"
"Therefore, the seat entry system is essential! Passengers must first be seated and secured with seat belts in the pre-boarding cabin before entering the vacuum carriage together with their seats. Otherwise, entry is impossible, and it could easily cause significant problems!" Old Chen explained. Everyone nodded, understanding that it made sense.
In such a narrow space, it was indeed necessary to be seated in the chairs beforehand and then enter the carriage.
However, this gave rise to a new question: why was the carriage designed to be so narrow?