Sharjah has unveiled the UAE’s first high-speed electric sky pod network.
Unitsky String Technologies of Belarus is building a 2km suspended track at Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park.
Designed in Belarus by Anatoli Unitsky, a scientist and member of the Russian Cosmonautics Federation, the sustainable electric elevated transportation system could be carrying its first passengers within weeks.
Unitsky String Technology could be used anywhere in the world over sea land or even in the mountains
A development site at the park already has a working 400-metre track that carries a suspended pod built to withstand the extreme Middle East climate.
This pilot project is expected to start carrying passengers in luxury pods from March this year.
Another 2km test track is due to open at the park in May. And within three years, a 130km sky track from Sharjah to Khor Fakkan port could be operational to transport freight.
The track will allow suspended pods hanging on a super-strong string rail to travel at a speed of 500kph once a full-length line is open.
Oleg Zaretskiy, UST's chief executive in the UAE, said the cost of building the network was comparable or cheaper than laying new roads and required vastly less maintenance over time.
“From a distance, it may look like a cable car - but it is light-years away,” he said.
“Ropes and rolling wheels restrict that format to low speeds because of friction and load. This Unitsky String Technology is more like a railroad, with wheels rolling on a rail," he said.
“There is steel-to-steel friction so it means it consumes much less energy than cars. It is a power-saving solution, with an electrical motor that can be operated partly by solar or wind energy.”
The project is supported by the Sharjah Government.
A test site is operational in Belarus at the Echotechnopark in Maryina Gorka.
By taking the pods aerial, land is preserved for green open spaces and development for retail and residential real estate.
The rail itself has guaranteed durability of 100 years and avoids corrosion by encasing eight pre-stressed wires inside a polymer solution to protect it from harsh environments.
An ‘urban light’ track can carry pods of up to 14 passengers at speeds of 150kph, while larger carriages transport passengers in either 48 or 75 capacity pods at 500kph.
If a track was laid between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the travel time would be reduced to less than 20 minutes.
Cargo pods can carry up to 25 tonnes at a time, at 130kph, greatly reducing the need for heavy goods vehicles clogging up roads.
“Comparisons with a metro system are difficult, as the price of cement varies greatly around the world so construction can be very expensive,” said Mr Zaretskiy.
“The UST system is much more flexible in route alignment, so is considerably cheaper.”
The company claims its operating costs are less than half of conventional railway transport and a third of the costs of building and maintaining a road of a similar distance.
It is also considerably cheaper to build and operate than a magnetic levitation system, such as a Hyperloop or a monorail, the company claimed.
“We don't need to build roads or demolish houses like when developing other infrastructure, so we can bring this transport system very close to people’s homes.
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“In cities where land is very expensive, this is a great solution.”
Construction costs for an overpass with conventional supports is around $100 million a kilometre, but the UST system costs are $10m a kilometre, said the company.
Pods have luxurious interiors, with leather seats, air-conditioning, television screens and a panoramic view of the surroundings.
Rails can run cargo pods above and passenger capsules below a track. Industrial blowers attached to the pods ensure rails remain clear of sand and debris.
An anti-derailment system with several braking points ensures pods are safe in an emergency.
Electric emergency batteries are partially powered by renewable energy, making its carbon footprint lower than traditional transport systems.
“This technology could be used anywhere in the world, over sea, land or even in the mountains,” said Mr Zaretskiy.
“It would be ideal for somewhere like the World Islands in Dubai where guests could be transported easily from the mainland to hotels.
“This is the future of transport.”
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
Barbie
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
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3%20Body%20Problem
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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
The%20specs%3A%20Taycan%20Turbo%20GT
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
SPECS
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if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%20new%20Turing%20Test
%3Cp%3EThe%20Coffee%20Test%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3EA%20machine%20is%20required%20to%20enter%20an%20average%20American%20home%20and%20figure%20out%20how%20to%20make%20coffee%3A%20find%20the%20coffee%20machine%2C%20find%20the%20coffee%2C%20add%20water%2C%20find%20a%20mug%20and%20brew%20the%20coffee%20by%20pushing%20the%20proper%20buttons.%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EProposed%20by%20Steve%20Wozniak%2C%20Apple%20co-founder%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km