Identifying the determinants of vacuum tube high-speed train development with technology roadmapping – a study from Poland

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to identify the conditions (both technical and non-technical) that determine the development of vacuum tube high-speed train technology. We employ technological roadmapping as a method. With this method, we analyze the planned process of the development of vacuum tube high-speed train technology in Poland. We have identified 65 conditions. They have been segregated into 4 groups (namely, legal, technological, economic, and social) and 20 development paths. These conditions are visible in the roadmap picturing the development process of vacuum tube high-speed train technology. Among the identified determinants, technical factors dominate; they relate to line infrastructure, stations, and vehicles. However, the development of technology is determined by legal, economic, and social conditions as well. Our study indicates that the successful implementation of the technology requires the management of all of the determining conditions and the mitigation of the impact of those that may be limited to others. The unveiled connotations among the examined factors can be implied by the decision-makers who are responsible for the development of transport infrastructure and vacuum tube high-speed train technology.

KEYWORDS:

• Vacuum tube high-speed train
• hyperloop
• technology roadmapping
• transport infrastructure
• interdisciplinary studies

Acknowledgements

This study was a part of the research and development project led by the Ministry of Development of the Republic of Poland along with AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Kozminski University in Warsaw, and the Warsaw University of Technology as partners in the project. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the other teams involved in the project who shared their technical, social, economic, and law knowledge; some their findings (presented in the project’s report) are included in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by National Centre for Research and Development in Poland (Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju); project title: ‘Potential for the development and implementation of vacuum tube high-speed train technology in Poland in the social, technical, economic, and legal contexts’ (‘Potencjał rozwoju i wdrażania w Polsce technologii kolei próżniowej w kontekście społecznym, technicznym, ekonomicznym i prawnym’); grant number: Gospostrateg/387144/27/NCBR/2019.