How Urbanloop capsules reinvent urban mobility
Backed by Keolis, this low-carbon individual rail capsule project is being tested in real-life conditions in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines during 17 months. 10,000 passengers have already been carried.
Decongesting cities
What if autonomous capsules designed for one or two people operated on rail tracks and took passengers around the block? Currently being tested in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, in collaboration with Île-de-France Mobilités, Urbanloop wishes to offer just that.
This project, launched at the University of Lorraine and supported by Keolis, the Urban Community of Greater Nancy and the Grand Est Region, aims to develop an innovative low-carbon urban transport solution to decongest roads in major cities and limit the use of private cars.
30 km/h
average speed with peaks at 50 km/h
10
capsules in circulation in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
10,000
passengers two months after it was launched in Yvelines
A fluid and reliable solution with no waiting time
A sort of « mini-metro », Urbanloop is based on loops, hence its name, with branch stations, i.e. parallel lanes for passengers wishing to get off or on. Similar to a freeway, this setup allows passengers to stop at their destination without disrupting others’ journeys. With a large number of cabins available, Urbanloop is giving public transport a revamp: it’s no longer the passenger who waits for the vehicle, but the vehicle that waits for the passenger. As a result, more fluidity and reliability with no waiting times, stops or connections.
A trip aboard Urbanloop
Paris 2024 Olympics: testing in real-life conditions
Hosting five Olympic venues during the Paris Games, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, was the first to test Urbanloop in real-life conditions. Keolis brought to the table its expertise in terms of automated guided transport while the city provided land and infrastructure needed for this project. Our company handled the management of infrastructure and pods, as well as staff training, power supply, maintenance and passenger reception and information.
During the Paris 2024 Olympics, there was extra staff to guide passengers in how to use this new mode of transport as well as remote supervision from Paris. Thus if a passenger encountered an issue, an operator could respond and fix the problem remotely, sending a field agent only if necessary.
Rolling out Urbanloop in Greater Nancy
In Nancy, tests are being carried out on a one-hectare area, using a 400 m loop and an 800 m loop. In May 2021, a capsule achieved the world record for the lowest energy consumption per kilometre there, after which the Greater Nancy metropolitan area applied to roll out the system. By early 2027, a 7 km loop will carry 40 capsules around the city.