The Ringway Transportation System (RTS) is a proposed, patented mass transit concept in which a vehicle glides in a linear direction on thrust between ring or frame structures supported by a line of pillars, without a continuous rail, tube or other support in the vehicle's travel path.[1][2] It was developed by Indian railway engineer Naveen Chaudhary.[3]
The system remains a concept. No prototype or test track has been built, and published coverage describes it as existing in the form of engineering documentation, renderings and patent filings.[4]
History[edit | edit source]
Chaudhary first pitched the Ringway design in 2004.[1] His invention titled "Improvement in Transportation System" was patented in 2012, and a further development, the patent application "An Elongated Gliding Vehicle and High-Speed Transportation System", followed in 2020.[3][5] Schaeffler's magazine Tomorrow notes that the 2012 patent predates the Hyperloop white paper of 2013 and that Ringway follows the same trackless principle later used in the Manyone AeroSlider concept.[3]
Concept and design[edit | edit source]
The concept is based on the balance behaviour of a beam resting on two points: a uniformly weighted beam sliding off an edge can extend to almost half its length before it tilts. Ringway applies this cantilever principle to a vehicle, which is supported at intervals by pillars instead of continuously.[6][3]
In the design, the orientation of wheel and rail is reversed: the steel wheels are replaced by a chain drive wheel assembly, and the continuous rail is replaced by mover or magnetic levitation components fixed on the pillar supports and on the vehicle. The vehicle is driven by a motor connected to the chain drive assembly, or by magnetic levitation.[1][6]
Later descriptions of the system give a rigid vehicle of about 70 metres spanning discrete elevated pillars about 35 metres apart, using hybrid magnetic levitation, in which electromagnetic suspension is used at low speed and electrodynamic suspension at high speed.[4]
Magnetoplasmaionic engine[edit | edit source]
The project also proposes a Magnetoplasmaionic (MPI) engine, which is presented by its promoters as using the Earth's atmospheric ions and plasma, converted into a direct or indirect form of power supply, to provide thrust to the vehicle.[1][2] Chaudhary presented the engine as a paper, "Magnetoplasmaionic (MPI) Engine", in the Propulsion and Energy session of the 35th ICAS Congress in Sydney in 2026, describing it as a propulsion concept that harnesses atmospheric electricity, accelerates plasma with electromagnetic forces in a magnetic confinement system, and is aimed at sustainable, zero-emission air transportation.[7] Coverage of the concept notes that, on the project's own figures, atmospheric harvesting is a supplement rather than the main power source, supplying up to about 15 percent of operational power under optimal conditions, with the rest drawn from the grid.[4]
These performance figures, including proposed supersonic speeds of over 1,000 km/h, are design targets stated by the project and the publications covering it. They have not been demonstrated on a built system.[4]
Applications proposed[edit | edit source]
The project proposes the system for recreation and people moving, urban transit, high-speed land transport and military transport, for both passenger and freight movement.[1][2]
Coverage[edit | edit source]
Ringway was discussed in Vice's technology coverage in 2013 in an article on unreal mass transit ideas, shortly after the Hyperloop proposal was published.[1] It was later covered by Youth Time Magazine in articles on future public transportation,[6] by Schaeffler's Tomorrow magazine in a survey of trackless transportation concepts,[3] and in 2026 by Intelligent Living[4] and TrendHunter, which described it as a hybrid maglev transit concept combining magnetic levitation and plasma propulsion.[8]
See also[edit | edit source]
- Automated guideway transit
- Hyperloop
- High-speed rail
- Maglev
- Personal rapid transit
- Sustainable transport
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Maurya, Reema (12 May 2022). "Ringway Transportation System: A Gliding Mass Transit of Future". Youth Time Magazine. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Ringway Transportation Technology". Open Innovation Platform. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Flying on a train". Tomorrow. Schaeffler. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Ringway Transportation System: The Trackless Maglev Revolution". Intelligent Living. 18 July 2026. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
- ↑ "Ringway Transportation - Technology". Ringway Transportation. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Emerging Public Transportation of the Future". Youth Time Magazine. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
- ↑ Chaudhary, N. K. (2026). "Magnetoplasmaionic (MPI) Engine". 35th ICAS Congress 2026. Sydney, Australia. doi:10.71945/icas2026_0739. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
{{cite conference}}: Check|doi=value (help) - ↑ "Hybrid Maglev Transit Concepts - The Ringway Transportation System Reimagines Long Distance Mobility". TrendHunter. 22 July 2026. Retrieved 14 November 2026.