Anatoli Unitsky: The Implementation of Innovative Transport Begins with Standards

A commentary by Anatoli Unitsky, General Designer of Unitsky String Technologies Inc., has been published on the industry platform Expert Voices (Golosa Ekspertov). The article focuses on one of the key stages in bringing uST technology into practical use — the development of its own regulatory framework.

In the commentary, the engineer explains why existing standards for conventional modes of transport cannot be directly applied to a string transport system. According to him, the development of technical requirements and regulatory documents enabled uST technology to move into practical implementation.

A dedicated regulatory framework has been developed for uST solutions. In 2025, Belarus adopted national standards governing the design and operation of string transport systems.

The full text of the expert commentary is available below.

«HOW TO STANDARDIZE A NEW TRANSPORT SYSTEM: THE EXPERIENCE OF STRING TECHNOLOGIES

When I first began working on string transport 50 years ago, I clearly understood that creating the technology was only half the task. For customers, experts, and regulators to understand and adopt it, standards were essential.

The uST transport and infrastructure complex is a system in which an unmanned rail vehicle travels along a pre-stressed elevated track structure. Since this solution differs fundamentally from railways, monorails, and ropeways, we had to develop our own regulatory framework from scratch.

One of the first challenges we faced was not technical but terminological. There was no generally accepted terminology for such a transport system. The same components could be described using the language of railway engineering, road transport, civil engineering, or ropeway systems, with each discipline assigning different meanings to the same terms. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to formulate requirements unambiguously, assess compliance consistently, or compare test results correctly.

Our standardization work began with establishing terminology and definitions. Every element of the transport and infrastructure complex and the way these elements interact had to be described precisely before we could proceed with developing technical requirements.

The transport and infrastructure complex was then broken down into its constituent elements, including the overpass structure, rolling stock, infrastructure facilities, the automated control system, and other components. For each of them, we defined operating scenarios, safety margins, and testing parameters. This painstaking work took many years, but without it, further progress would not have been possible.

The next stage involved analysing requirements from related industries. Our goal was not simply to copy existing standards — string transport follows its own engineering principles — but to adapt relevant approaches to its specific characteristics. At the same time, we developed testing methods to verify compliance with the established requirements.

Our analytical models were validated through both laboratory and full-scale testing. We understood that a single successful test run could never prove the reliability of a transport system. Instead, we conducted comprehensive testing programmes, accumulated statistical data, and carefully analysed even the slightest deviations. Over time, we were able to build an evidence base to supportrequirements for design, manufacturing, quality control, and operation.

Anatoli Unitsky, General Designer of Unitsky String Technologies Inc. Inventor of uST technology.

For more than 50 years, he has been developing environmentally friendly and energy-efficient string transport. He is the author of more than 300 scientific publications, over 20 monographs, and holds more than 200 patents.»