Hyperloop hits 310kph in test

03 สิงหาคม 2560

The near-supersonic rail system known as hyperloop has passed another key milestone on its path to become reality, the US startup Hyperloop One said Wednesday.

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Hyperloop startup says superfast rail a reality

AFP – The near-supersonic rail system known as hyperloop has passed another key milestone on its path to become reality, the US startup Hyperloop One said Wednesday.

Hyperloop One, which is developing a system theorised by entrepreneur Elon Musk, said that a test last week of a full hyperloop system at its private facility in the desert near Las Vegas was a success, hitting record speeds.

During what the startup referred to as Phase 2 testing, a pod fired through a tube depressurised to the equivalent of 60,000 meters above sea level reached an unprecedented speed of 310 kilometers per hour.

All components were successfully tested, including motors, controls, the vacuum system, and the magnetic levitation that lets pods zip along tracks without touching them, the company said.

"That's a huge milestone for us," said Hyperloop One co-founder and executive chairman Shervin Pishevar.

"Now we've shown that the hyperloop actually works. And now this is the dawn of the commercialisation of the hyperloop. So from this point on we move to the commercialisation process."

Pishevar said Wednesday that he now sees the system "getting operational in the new few years."

The hyperloop system is designed to send pods carrying cargo or people through low-pressure tubes for long distances at passenger jet speeds.

Hyperloop One early this year disclosed a list of locations around the world vying to put the near-supersonic rail transit system to the test.

It was expected to be several years before a hyperloop system was up and running. The startup set a goal of having one running by 2021.

Pishevar told AFP he expected the first hyperloop system to be built outside the US because "the speed at which other governments work" could be an advantage.

Hyperloop One, which has raised more than $160 million, was set on an idea laid out by billionaire Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind electric car company Tesla and private space exploration endeavor SpaceX.

Pods would rocket along rails through reduced-pressure tubes at speeds of 1,200 kilometers per hour.

Hyperloop One says the system offers better safety than passenger jets, lower build and maintenance costs than high-speed trains, and energy usage, per person, that is similar to a bicycle.

Musk's involvement in hyperloop is for now limited to potentially building the tunnels with his latest startup – The Boring Company.

Tunneling is certainly an option, but building hyperloop tubes above ground, perhaps where traditional rail lines already exist, would be faster and cheaper, according to Hyperloop One executives.