• Ledivin@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    They’re going to have to clear a lot of stuff for a big conveyor system why not do it properly and go with freight trains?

    They would have to do the exact same thing for trains, though. Do you have any comments on the actual differences in the projects, or do you only have (probably rightfully-placed, but still) knee-jerk reactions to your favorite vehicle?

    • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 months ago

      I see you stopped reading my comment there.

      I listed some reasons in the comment literally right after that.

      • Ledivin@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I listed some reasons in the comment literally right after that.

        “Trains already exist” doesn’t address literally any part of the other project. Horses existed before cars, too.

        • yistdaj@pawb.social
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          4 months ago

          Although I agree that other forms of transport should be considered, I genuinely can’t figure out how either a conveyor belt or autonomous carts could be better than a freight train. Both for battling decreasing manpower and for intercity freight transport.

          I think both proposed ideas are better for short-distance transport, with conveyor belts better for a single direction of movement in indoor (or as the article mentions, tunnel) conditions (must be kept clear of debris in order to run, more so than track which only needs to be cleared before the next train) and autonomous carts better for transporting small packages between many origins and destinations (eg. a warehouse or maybe delivery service).

          Conveyor belts might also require much more maintenance, as moving parts would be all along the length of the belt.