Trains as a service (TAAS) and AAM – Vertiport Africa Alliance

Durban, South Africa July 2020 -The Vertiport Africa Alliance (VAA) is investigating a service in which VTOL platforms could land on modified rail carriages and either drive themselves to major hubs or be hooked up to quality train excursions such as the Orient Express or Blue Train.

VAA spokes person Fanie du Plessis notes,

“Covid-19 has shown that frequent business travel is likely to become a thing of the past. A more leisurely luxury approach to inter city travel for the occasional meeting need not mean the well heeled UAM owner should leave their craft behind. They might also leave the train before it enters the centre of town to their on ward destination”

Tests of Trains As a Service / Advanced Air Mobility (TAAS/AAM) are slated to begin in 2022.

Fannie added,

“A second use case is that of delivery, as the train travels through Africa onboard operators could load the drone and send it off with its cargo, then return to be recharged and reloaded for the next drop. In this way, the train need not stop and be able to serve businesses on a 200km wide corridor centered on the rail line”