We reported on Urbanloop in February 2021 and described the latest status a year later. In 2017, 186 computer science students at the University of Lorraine studied how a modern, fast and environmentally friendly passenger transport system could be developed for smaller cities, university campuses, shopping centres, airports and their car parks. The market requirements were first determined and then the most important framework conditions were defined as guidelines. The task was: “To develop a new means of public transport that increases individual mobility without stops, waiting times or transfers in order to effectively combat the use of individual cars in urban and suburban areas.” From the outset, it was clear that Urbanloop was not just to be an academic exercise, but the goal was clearly to realise it in practice. Urbanloop was developed in a targeted manner by first developing the IT solution using artificial intelligence as the centrepiece of the system and testing it in a small model test, as in a toy train. Under the leadership of computer science professor Jean-Philippe Mangeot, who has since become its director, the company Urbanloop SAS was founded as a start-up in Tomblaine near Nancy. Thanks to the support of interested companies and the political goodwill of the authorities, a full-scale test track was quickly built there. This demonstrated the feasibility of the principle.
Urbanloop SAS was recognised by the French President Emmanuel Macron as one of the 125 best start-up companies. As part of a French government funding programme, two orders for small systems with passenger service were already booked in 2021. In the meantime, Urbanloop SAS has already been granted five patents and employs two dozen people. A summary video (in French) can be seen here:
In record time, only seven years from the initial idea to the first operation with passengers, the 2 km long line in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, one of the venues for the Olympic Games in Paris, was put into operation on 27 July 2024 after being homologated for passenger operation by the French approval body STRMTG. This is an Olympic record, considering that elsewhere it takes longer for an existing operation to modernise its fleet. Passengers use one of the ten small automatic Urbanloop capsules. The system will remain in operation beyond the Olympic Games until the end of 2025 in order to gain experience.
As we have already reported, Urbanloop is a system that automatically transports passengers in small capsules for two people with tyres on lightweight rails consisting of angled profiles the horizontal, inward-facing leg of which serves as a track. The capsules travel without stopping from the starting stop to their destination stop, passing all other stops on a through track without stopping. The stops are each located on a side track. The turnouts are passive, i.e. they have no moving parts and the control system decides by lowering guide rollers on the outside of the vertical legs of the angle profiles whether the respective capsule should continue on the straight track or move onto the side track. The whole process is controlled by artificial intelligence, which evaluates empirical data on the use of the stops based on various criteria, such as shopping centre opening times, school closing times, weather, etc. This provides a sufficient number of empty capsules at each stop. In this way, a very fast service is ensured, in most cases without any waiting time for passengers. Get on and go is the motto.
The small capsules for two seated passengers, which can also accommodate a bicycle, a pushchair or a wheelchair, naturally have a very small cross-section and therefore also allow cost-effective tunnel crossings under roads. The vehicles are fully electric and are supplied with a low DC voltage of 72 volts via the two rails, which means that no further special safety measures against electric shocks are necessary. The positioning and speed control of the capsules is carried out with millimetre precision using a simple but effective system whose passive elements are attached to the track and which is supplemented by odometry and geolocalisation. This enables a so-called flying block and even the formation of virtual trains, also known as platooning. The high travelling speed compared to bus or car traffic makes it possible to arrange the Urbanloop transport systems in the form of single-track ring lines with traffic in one direction only, which allows better access to residential areas in particular. The rings can be linked together to create a complete network. Even in larger such networks, there is no need for fixed routes with transfers, but all connections are made by direct journeys, as the capsules can pass from one ring line to another.
There is no need for line plans and timetables. The whole system is designed according to a modular principle and the tracks can be easily assembled and disassembled. They consist of standardised track elements for straight lines, curves and turnouts. This means that any track configuration can be created, expansions and route changes or even networks that are only operated for a short time are easy to manage. Depending on the size of the network, there are also one or more power supply systems, the IT-based safety and operations control system and a small depot. Urbanloop can be implemented on any type of ground thanks to its light weight. This makes Urbanloop an ideal solution for sustainable mobility, as it can seamlessly integrated into existing environments without significant disruption or degradation.
The next step will be to build a 7 km long system (outward and return) with 7 stops and 40 capsules along an abandoned railway line in the centre of the city of Nancy in eastern France by 2027. It will run on an SNCF railway line that has been disused for years, from a car park in Maxéville as a feeder to the future trolleybus line. The narrow vehicles and the system’s low noise level of 63 dbA at 50 km/h will make it possible to create a cycle and pedestrian path along the line at the same time. The line will be landscaped and there will be pedestrian crossings protected by traffic lights. There, the capsules will travel at walking speed. Stationary and on-board sensors will monitor the presence of persons and stop the vehicles if necessary. This system has already been tested on the demonstration route in Tomblaine and has been approved by STRMTG. Urbanloop will pass under roads in small tunnels.
It will be interesting to see whether the concept will find favour elsewhere. Urbanloop is a cost-effective solution, can be adapted to a wide variety of requirements and allows traffic flows to be controlled, urban areas to be optimally planned, with an attractive transport speed and constant availability, withoutCO2 emissions and with the option of greening the track. Thanks to the fully automated operation, there is no need to search for bus drivers, which are currently in short supply.
Urbanloop says that talks are underway with around 60 potential customers, including large French industrial sites and urban and rural communities in areas with different geographical conditions, as well as in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In France, the politically driven future SERM projects are being pursued as Urbanloop fits perfectly into this dynamic by offering a real alternative to heavy vehicle transport and a system that is easy to integrate. SERMs are multimodal mobility projects (train, tram, bus, bicycle, …). They are to be made available to people in the cities and suburbs and built around a railway backbone.
Urbanloop is also making rapid progress at a technical level. Many potential customers want a higher transport capacity than the capsules designed for two people, and for this reason a six-person capsule for four seated and 2 standing passengers that can travel on the same tracks is currently being developed. The Savoy town of Annecy is interested in this. Work is also underway on a monorail version with a higher capacity, which should make it even easier to integrate Urbanloop into existing urban areas. Urbanloop which is a guided system on its own dedicated track, must still be able to interact with other modes of transport in urban and suburban areas. To achieve this, the team is developing a safety system called ‘CROSS’ for pedestrian and road crossings.
We can expect further implementations for various transport requirements in passenger transport and perhaps also in urban logistics to follow on the basis of the IT solution from Lorraine. Let’s look forward to the next surprise!
20.08.2024
