The first full-scale test was performed in Nevada last May. Hyperloop One, the high-speed project conceived by Elon Musk, is a reality. Or at least it will be. Less than a year ago the first step towards a new conception of transport was made with the control of the levitation and propulsion of a Hyperloop One vehicle in a vacuum.
One of the company’s test tracks is located in the desert just outside Las Vegas. Here, for just over 5 seconds, a kind of sled travelled along a nearly airless tube reaching around 387 km/h, accelerating for around 30 metres. But the project promises to reach a speed of 1000 kilometres an hour in the future. “By achieving full vacuum, we essentially invented our own sky in a tube, as if you’re flying at 200,000 feet in the air – commented Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Hyperloop One -. For the first time in over 100 years, a new mode of transportation has been introduced. Hyperloop is real, and it’s here now.”
How Hyperloop One works
But how does Hyperloop work? The infrastructure is formed of two low-pressure steel tunnels, one for each direction, elevated from the ground by concrete pylons or built underground. Thanks to a magnetic levitation system, the capsules travel along tubes suspended on the tracks, reaching up to 1223 kilometres an hour, driven by a jet of compressed air. Each capsule, which can contain goods, passengers or even vehicles, is fuelled by internal wind turbines and by solar energy generated by photovoltaic panels located on the top of the tube.
The companies involved
Since 2013, when the project saw the light, there has been a real race to invest in this ambitious project. Major companies, including Richard Branson’s Virgin for example, are working on the development of underground supersonic tunnels. Three main companies have risen to Elon Musk’s challenge: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, founded in 2013 by California startup JumpStarter, Hyperloop One, founded in Los Angeles in 2014 by former SpaceX engineer Brogan BamBrogan, and Canadian firm TransPod, founded in 2015.
The (possible) debut
The first country in which Hyperloop will become a reality is the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (owner of Etihad Airways) wants it ready for Expo 2020. According to estimates, the ultra-fast capsule train will cover the 157 kilometres that separate Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 12 minutes. The price of each one-way ticket will be midway between the price of an underground ticket and the price of a high-speed train ticket.
Scandals surrounding the project
But Virgin Hyperloop One could suffer a setback for reasons unconnected with the technical aspects of the project. With the company carrying out feasibility tests for the development of high-speed line in Saudi Arabia, news arrived of the arrest of one of its directors and the replacement of three others. The man arrested was Russian multi-millionaire magnate Ziyavudin Magomedov, on charges of fraud and embezzlement. Hyperloop One has been embroiled in various “scandals” in its short history: in addition to this, accusations unrelated to the company’s core business have also been levelled at co-founder Shervin Pishevar.
Possible competitors
But Musk isn’t the only one to have thought of levitating trains. Or rather, he was the first to build one but others are already trying to catch up. The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, the Chinese government’s main contractor in the aerospace sector, announced the production of a new levitation prototype last September. The aim is to produce “trains” similar to Hyperloop, combining flight technology with the features of railcars in order to develop a train that is more competitive than Musk’s. According to the revelations, the train could travel at 4000 km/h using a magnetic levitation technology that enables the prototype to embark on supersonic journeys close to the ground. Unlike the other models developed so far, including Hyperloop One, which have to travel at a minimum speed in order to levitate, the Chinese prototype should be able to levitate at zero speed and without wheels.