![](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/CJLUTZDHZLZZ2YSREPHOORVQZM.jpg?quality=85&w=2560)
![](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/CJLUTZDHZLZZ2YSREPHOORVQZM.jpg?quality=85&w=2560)
Airplanes, trains, and cargo ships may travel through different mediums, but they roughly do the same thing: encase precious cargo in a similar container, and then unload it at the destination. “Clip Air” is a concept from Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne that wants planes, trains, and ships to carry people much the same way they carry shipping crates: in detachable, modular tubes, which can be put on rails, loaded on boats, or slung under wing.
EPFL explains the benefits:
The concept could make layovers easier, but it’s maybe not so great if you want to leave your metal tube to go stretch your legs.
Still, it’s a neat way to envision simplified transportation systems for people, goods, and raw materials. It also guesses at a world that feels like a toddler’s play set of interconnected blocky structures, which is delightful.
Read more about it at CNN.