HyperloopTT and Hitachi Rail say they have achieved an important milestone towards the commercial running of the innovative system, which will be able to run at speeds of up to 1,200km/h, with the completion of proof of concept for a cloud-based ERTMS signalling system for HyperloopTT’s capsules. Hyperloops are intended to move passengers and cargo at high speed in vehicle ‘pods’ or capsules travelling through partially evacuated tubes. ERTMS, the European Rail Traffic Management System, is a set of standards originally designed to let trains run anywhere in the European Union, but it is now ..read more

The Korail research institute developed a 1:17 scale test model to test the concept. The Hyper Tube train is intended for use in a near-vacuum tube and accelerated using powerful magnets. According to Korail, its miniature model reached a top speed of 1,019km/hr at 0.001 atm (far lower pressure than has been achieved in any comparable test) during this week’s test. This is around the speed of aircraft designed for transcontinental flights and twice as fast as the fastest ground transport currently available, maglev trains. “We have overcome the problem of vehicle driving obstacles caused by ..read more

The Hyperloop is a proposed form of rapid, energy-efficient transportation, involving a pod travelling through a sealed tube containing a vacuum at near aircraft speeds. The concept was popularised and “open sourced” by industrialist Elon Musk as an efficient alternative to road transport infrastructure. In recent years, several groups have been working to advance and eventually commercialise the technology, including with an annual Hyperloop Pod Competition supported by SpaceX. Virgin Hyperloop (formerly Hyperloop One) has made significant progress, raising at least $400m from investors and ..read more

After years of testing and developing hyperloop technology at their full-scale test site, the firm said the Centre would help hyperloop progress on the regulatory and commercial fronts, as well as create thousands of new jobs across construction, manufacturing, operations, and high-tech sectors. Virgin Hyperloop aims to achieve safety certification by 2025, with commercial operations beginning in 2030 in addition to eventual services outside of the US. “Today is one of the most exciting days in Virgin Hyperloop’s history,” said Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. “The Hyperloop ..read more

The hyperloop concept was first proposed by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk in a white paper describing an alternative to 'two-dimensional' transportation. Hyperloop involves a pressurised pod containing people, a vehicle or cargo being catapulted at aircraft speeds through a vacuum tunnel beneath or above road traffic. In theory, this could reduce cross-country and international journeys to a matter of minutes. In reality, however, experts have raised serious legal, logistical, economic, and safety issues relating to the concept. In July 2017, Virgin Hyperloop One became the first (and s ..read more

The immersive virtual reality experience – developed by a team from the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) – details the exterior and interior design of travel pods, which pass through a station filled with information screens and navigational signage. As it sets off on its journey, the pod’s curved top half is seen transforming into transparent panels, providing a panoramic view of the outside world. Design concept for the exterior of a Hyperloop pod, which has been revealed by a grou ..read more

The Boring Company is one of numerous ambitious Musk ventures. It was established in December 2016, apparently inspired by Musk’s frustration at the time he spent waiting in two-dimensional traffic. Musk had previously published a white paper laying out the concept of a ‘hyperloop’: a type of futuristic transport in which pods containing cars, cargo, or people are whisked at aircraft speeds through vacuum tubes. While numerous start-ups are battling to be the first to build a hyperloop, Musk has since proposed a slightly more modest transportation system called a ‘Loop’ in which high-speed v ..read more

In December 2017, the Boring Company - a tunnelling company established by industrialist Elon Musk - proposed building a high-speed subterranean transportation system beneath LA called the “Loop”. The system would be comprised of a network of tunnels filled with pods travelling at 240km/h. Musk claimed that rides on the Loop in a pod containing 15 other people could cost as little as $1 (78p) and that the system would be minimally disruptive to the city due to being contained largely underground. The project would begin with a 4.3km “proof of concept” tunnel dug beneath Sepulveda Boulevard o ..read more

The concept of the hyperloop was formulated and described in detail in a 2013 white paper by industrialist Elon Musk, who argued that two-dimensional transportation was inefficient. Instead, he proposed a system of large vacuum tubes, through which pods containing cargo, vehicles or passengers can be accelerated at aircraft speeds, cutting hours-long journeys to a matter of minutes. Musk invited other parties to develop the hyperloop, and in the past few years a number of companies have been racing to be the first to build a full-scale system. In July 2017, Hyperloop One (now Virgin Hyperloo ..read more

“We should be in space within weeks, not months,” he said, speaking to CNBC at the Barclays Asia Forum in Singapore this week. “And then we will be in space with myself in months and not years.” He added that Virgin Galactic was “more than tantalisingly close” to its first trip to space, and that there were a “very, very exciting couple of months ahead”. However, Branson had also previously estimated in October 2017 that he could be travelling into space himself on a Virgin Galactic service within six months. Branson said that a majority of people would “love to go to space if they could aff ..read more