The future of transport - 6 Minute English

Rob: Hello I'm Rob and this is 6 Minute English -

the show that brings you an interesting topic

authentic listening practice and some vocabulary

to help you improve your language skills.

Neil: And hello, I'm Neil. Our topic today is transport.

How do you think you'll be travelling to work

in, say 30 years' time Rob?

Rob: Well, not only will home working be more prevalent,

that means common - but I hope I won't be working

in 30 years' time!

Neil: Good answer! But if we look back and

see how transport has changed in the last

30 years, it makes you wonder what the future holds.

Rob: Yes, we've seen how air travel has become

commonplace for many people. Commonplace means

not unusual. And there's been the development

of high-speed train travel. But the main priority

has been speed - going faster

to make your journeys quicker.

Neil: That's true, and we'll be discussing some ideas

for making transport even faster soon.

But let's not waste any time and speed on

to today's quiz question.

Rob: Ah yes, time waits for no one, not even you Neil.

So can you answer this question?

According to Guinness World Records, in which country

has the fastest ever train been recorded?

Is it in... a) China, b) Japan or c) France

Neil: All these countries have fast trains

but I've heard that Chinese trains go particularly fast.

So I'm going to say a) China.

Rob: Well, you'll have to wait until the end

of the programme to see if you're right.

But let's talk more now about the future of transport.

One development we hear much about is automation.

Neil: Automation means using machines to do work

that humans normally do and in terms of transport

this means driverless vehicles.

It won't be too long before we become the

passenger in a driverless car.

Rob: Scary! And the French train engineering company,

Alstom, is planning to test automated freight trains

later this year. The automated train prototype

can travel for about 100 kilometres

without driver intervention. A prototype is the first

version of something which can be

tested before it is produced in large quantities.

Neil: Of course some trains are already driven

by computers but there's an exciting plan

to develop a form of driverless vehicle

that could move you around

at 1,123 kilometres per hour.

Rob: Come on Neil. That sounds a bit far-fetched -

like flying cars that we see in sci-fi movies -

it's difficult to believe because it's unlikely to happen.

Neil: Well you say that but it's already being tested

in Nevada in the USA and has a name - Hyperloop One.

Rob: Tell me more!

Neil: The idea is, you get loaded into a pod

then you're pushed through a metal tube at high speed,

taking you to your destination in minutes

rather than hours.

Anita Sengupta is the lead systems engineer

and says there's nothing scary about it...

Anita Sengupta: The Hyperloop is a maglev train

in a vacuum system - or in a vacuum tube -

and so you can also think of it as an aircraft

flying at 200,000 feet so people don't have any issue

flying in aeroplanes and people don't have any issue

going in maglev trains. This is simply combining the two

and allows you to be more energy efficient.

Rob: So Anita Sengupta explained the type of

technology the Hyperloop used.

First she mentioned maglev -

that's a short way of saying magnetic levitation.

Neil: It's when trains travel on magnetic track

rather than conventional rails.

Rob: And then she mentioned a vacuum system -

a vacuum is a space that has all the air

and any other gases removed from it.

So the tube these pods travel in have no air

so there's no resistance.

And these technologies are more efficient

and they save energy.

Neil: Which is a good thing.

This sounds like a great way to travel but will it take off?

Rob: Well, BBC technology correspondent

Rory Cellan-Jones isn't so sure.

He thinks it will be quite challenging to convince

governments to allow long metal tubes to be built

on or below ground.

Neil: But we have to try these new technologies Rob.

If we didn't we'd still be travelling

around on horse and cart!

Rob: A good point Neil - and we wouldn't have been able

to travel at the great speeds

mentioned in today's question.

Now earlier I asked you according to

Guinness World Records, in which

country has the fastest ever train travelled?

Is it in... a) China, b) Japan, c) France

Neil: And I said a) China.

Rob: And you were wrong Neil. China does have some

very fast trains. But the fastest recorded train

was a maglev from the Central Japan Railway Company,

which ran on a test track

at a speed of 603 kilometres per hour.

Neil: Now that would make my commute

to work very quick!

OK, shall we recap some of the vocabulary

we've heard today? Starting with commonplace.

Rob: Yes, which means 'not unusual or often seen.'

For example 'free Wi-Fi in coffee shops is

commonplace these days.'

Neil: And very useful it is too! Next we had automation,

meaning 'using a machine to do something

instead of a human.' 'Automation in the car making

industry has led to the loss of hundreds of jobs.'

Rob: Of course when you build a new car

you need to make a prototype -

that's the first version of something which can be tested

before it's produced in large quantities.

'The prototype of a new solar-powered bike

has been so successful

that it's now going into mass-production.'

Neil: Come on Rob, that sounds a bit far-fetched -

and by that I mean 'so unbelievable

it's unlikely to happen.'

Rob: Well something people once thought far-fetched

is now a reality and that's maglev -

that's short for 'magnetic levitation'

and is how some of the world's fastest trains travel.

Neil: Finally, we discussed the word vacuum.

It's a space that has had all the air and other gases

removed from it - basically an empty space.

'The plan for Virgin's Hyperloop One

is to make a maglev even faster by putting it

in a vacuum tube.' And that brings us to the end

of today's 6 Minute English. Don't forget

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and we'll see you next time. Goodbye.

Rob: Bye