The Evolution of Transport: Faster Trains & Faster Chains
The evolution of movement of people and goods to data and information.
This is part two segment of a three part mini-series exploring critical infrastructure of the past and looking ahead to its corollary of the future. If you missed the earlier segment, you can check it out here.
In this feature:
An overview of how train technology has advanced
A look into how this translates to blockchains, the railroads of the 21st century
A Meta Moment: the different layers of blockchain “rails”
In the modern day there have been train advancements that have helped accelerate mobility of people and goods around the world.
Biting the Bullet
The rail infrastructure that has been referenced in the previous article was from the 1800s and early 1900s. At this point in time, most trains were steam-engine locomotives. Steam engines evolved as the technology improved.
In the late 19th century, the early days of electric-powered trains came to be.
At the turn of the century, diesel-powered trains began to gain momentum.
In the mid-20th century, hybrid trains came about that were diesel-electric.
As time passed, combinations of energy sources were used for different types of transit and the train engines and bodies themselves began to evolve to increase speed.
Today, places like Japan, China, Germany, Sweden among others offer high speed rail transportation with trains topping out at over 200mph (320kmh)!
The bullet trains today make passenger travel much more viable, sustainable and convenient.
The Digital Economy Needs High Speed Rail
The first layer of infrastructure in the emerging digital economy are the rails of economic development. By augmenting the foundational layer of applications, scalability becomes viable and applications become faster - similar to the improvements in train technology.
When it comes to blockchain technology, there are multiple layers that impact how the rails operate.
Layer 1: Base Layer
A base layer of a blockchain could be thought of as the original rails that were laid across the US in the 1800s. They service passengers and freight and stretch hundreds or thousands of miles. The base layer takes a lot to overhaul. For the rail system in the US, it needed federal government funding or significant corporate investment to modify. For base layers of blockchains to change, improvement proposals (i.e. Ethereum Improvement Proposals - EIPs) need to pass for things to change.
Layer 2: Scaling Layer
A scaling layer of a blockchain could be thought of as variations of high speed rail. While there is base layer railroad infrastructure that could accommodate higher speeds and passenger throughput similar to alternative base layer blockchains, improvements are often made on top of existing infrastructure as passengers are used to traveling certain train lines. When looking at how bullet trains work, magnetic repulsion began to be used to remove friction in how the train cars moved along the tracks. With blockchains, there are rollup solutions that remove transactional friction to enable higher throughput at lower costs.
Layer 3: Application Layer
An application layer of a blockchain could be thought of as the specialty forms of rail that have evolved over the years to do more niche jobs. These types of trains could include monorails at airports or light rails in cities. At their core, these trains are a product of the base layer technology but found a niche use case to improve peoples’ lives. Similar to monorail or light rail systems, infrastructure built on the application layer enables particular functions and activities. Examples of application layer functions could include: minting NFTs, lending or borrowing collateral and swapping assets.
For the digital economy to make advancements like passenger rail travel, Layer 2 improvements are like the technological progress towards high speed trains.
The Fast and the Curious
Faster trains have enabled greater mobility and economic development where implemented. Better transportation has many knock-on benefits for economies: enabling the creation of new jobs, increasing capacity for mass transit passengers, increasing demand for hospitality services and various others.
Builders of the digital economy have been developing scaling alternatives for the last several years. It has been known that foundational blockchain layers will likely need a way to scale functionality in order to welcome more participants to the economy in the years to come.
History has shown a pattern, it’s that when useful technology meets demand, innovation is the heartbeat that carries forward utility for the next wave of users. The degens and forward thinkers of today are the ones to carry forward the next step-change improvement for the digital economy of tomorrow, like high-speed rail did for transportation today.
For more resources on different layers of blockchain technology:
What is Layer 1 & Layer 2? (YouTube: The Defiant)
A beginner's guide to understanding the layers of blockchain technology (CoinTelegraph)