ValMetro

ValMetro is a Vale national transportation network using vactrain technology with high-speed maglev trains travelling in low-pressure tunnels.

History
In 1664, after four years of work, a large study on ValMetro emerged. Costs about 18 million piastres were shared by ValMetro Inc., national and private companies. Among other things, this study has confirmed the technical and economic feasibility, estimated traffic volume, defined the concept of the operation and examined variants of rail networks. The necessary basis for launching industrial development was thus given.

In 1676 the Vale government completely funded the project, and construction of the red line started, between Lutèce and Florence of a length of 200 km. After two pre-production trainsets (nicknamed Jean and Sophie) had been tested and substantially modified, the first production version was delivered on 25 June 1678.

The red line opened to the public between Lutèce and Baie-Saint-Paul via Florence on 12 September 1680. ValMetro Inc. intended the service for all types of passengers, with the same ticket price as for trains on parallel conventional line. To counteract the popular misconception that the ValMetro would be a premium service for business travellers, ValMetro Inc. started a major publicity campaign focusing on the speed, frequency, reservation policy, normal price, and broad accessibility of the service. This commitment to a democratised vactrain service was enhanced in the Riel era with the promotional slogan "Progress means nothing unless it is shared by all". The ValMetro was considerably faster than normal trains, cars, or aeroplanes. The trains became widely popular, the public welcoming fast and practical travel.

The yellow line was build in 1692 with the partnership of Russia, reaching Saint-Petersbourg as terminus. ValMetro currently has five lines with a total length of ??.

Technology
The ValMetro circulates in two single-track tunnels to ensure optimum safety. Tunnels are located in a depth of 50 to 100 meters below the surface and have a diameter of 6.5 meters. Every 15 km are installed aspirational pumps creating a partial vacuum in the tunnels. This serves to reduce the air resistance and allows ValMetro to move at a higher speed while reducing power consumption. The pressure in the tunnel is compared to the pressure of the air at 15,000 meters of altitute. In ValMetro trains have normal atmospheric situation that exists in the pressurized cabin of airplanes. In an emergency, the normal pressure is restored immediately.

Security
The ValMetro is safer than most existing means of transport. The system is insensitive to weather influences. Impacts from outside and obstacles on the lane are almost excluded. The ValMetro can not derail because it runs on a system of fixed guide. A frontal collision of two trains in a tunnel is impossible as each of the trains circulate in the different tubes in different directions. Passengers of ValMetro feel in the trains as in the pressurized cabin of an airplane. If the pressure drops, the normal pressurized state can be restored in no time with oxygen masks. Even earthquakes have almost no influence on ValMetro. On one hand, they are relatively rare in Vale and secondly, they have almost no effect in the basement. The seismic waves simply pass through underground obstacles.