In 2013, Elon Musk first introduced the idea of futuristic transportation by sending passenger pods via tubes at speeds of hundreds of miles an hour.
What seemed to be hypothetical is no longer. "A handful of firms are now competing to develop the necessary technology. And in addition to designing the magnetically levitated pods and testing them on small-scale tracks, the firms are taking preliminary steps to set up hyperloop routes in the U.S. and abroad. “It’s happening far faster than I would have ever expected, and it’s happening all over the world,” said Dr. David Goldsmith, a transportation researcher at Virginia Tech."
Musk proposing to dig a hyperloop tunnel between Washington D.C. to New York making travel times 30 minutes. Keep in mind that the fastest train currently takes 3 hours for the same trip.
Virgin Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies are two start-ups developing routes all over the world.
"But with roads in many areas badly congested and air travel subject to weather delays, high-speed tube travel sounds appealing to many. In addition to shaving hours off of intercity trips, hyperloops promise to be less polluting than planes and cars. And hyperloop travel could even transform the morning commute, potentially allowing workers to travel comfortably to worksites hundreds of miles away from their homes.
The Hyperloop Experience:
"Hyperloop routes would consist of steel tubes roughly 11 feet in diameter that would be positioned on the ground or in underground tunnels."
"As for the pods, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies envisions 100-foot-long models fitted with virtual windows — video screens that would recreate the scenery outside — and capable of seating 40 passengers. Virgin Hyperloop One, meanwhile, has already built prototype pods fitted with leather seats and armrest-mounted entertainment screens.The pods would accelerate and decelerate gradually, moving from one station to the next without stopping.“The actual experience of riding in one of these things would be very serene,” Goldsmith said of the pods. “You’re sealed up in something like an airplane fuselage but without the air running past you,” he said, a reference to the fact that the tubes would be maintained at a partial vacuum to reduce air resistance that would slow the pods."
"In short, hyperloop trips promise to be quiet and smooth — and very fast. Ultimately, hyperloop developers aim to develop systems that will move pods along at speeds of up to 760 miles per hour. So far, the fastest any prototype pod has traveled is 240 miles per hour. That came last December during a test run that Virgin Hyperloop One conducted in the Nevada desert."
Testing and Construction:
"Virgin Hyperloop One hopes to begin testing full-sized hyperloop systems in 2021 and then to build hyperloops in the United Arab Emirates and India, among other countries. The tests will show whether it’s possible to maintain the partial vacuum within the tubes over hundreds of miles and if airlocks can quickly and fully seal off the tubes when passengers exit a pod. Once construction of commercial hyperloop routes begins, it’s likely to prove very costly. Some estimates suggest one mile of a hyperloop route could cost up to $121 million, Forbes reported."
Source: www.nbcnews.com
The future is upon us 