What is Hyperloop?
Hyperloop is a new form of ground transport currently in development by several companies, it could see passengers traveling at over 700 miles an hour in a floating pod that races along inside giant low-pressure tubes, either above or below ground.
What makes Hyperloop different?
There are two big differences between Hyperloop and traditional rail. Firstly, the pods carrying passengers travel through tubes or tunnels from which most of the air has been removed to reduce friction. This should allow the pods to travel at up to 750 miles per hour.
Secondly, rather than using wheels like a train or car, the pods are designed to float on air skis, using the same basic idea as an air hockey table, or use magnetic levitation to reduce friction.
What are the benefits of Hyperloop?
Supporters argue that Hyperloop could be cheaper and faster than train or car travel, and cheaper and less polluting than air travel. They claim that it's also quicker and cheaper to build than traditional high-speed rail. Hyperloop could therefore be used to take the pressure off gridlocked roads, making travel between cities easier, and potentially unlocking major economic benefits as a result.
When is the first Hyperloops going to be available?
Several different companies are working to turn the idea into a functioning commercial system.
Hyperloop technology is still in development even though the basic concept has been around for many years. At the moment, the earliest any Hyperloop is likely to be up and running is 2020 but most services are expected to be later, as trials of the technology are still in their early stages.
Where will Hyperloop services run?
It's still not clear where Hyperloops will actually be established but several companies have sketched out routes in the US, Europe, and elsewhere. Potential routes include New York to Washington DC, Pune to Mumbai, Kansas City to St Louis, Bratislava to Brno, Vijaywada and Amaravati, and many more.
What is the history of Hyperloop?
The idea of using low-pressure or vacuum tubes as part of a transport system has a long heritage. The Crystal Palace pneumatic railway used air pressure to push a wagon uphill (and a vacuum to drag it back down) way back in Victorian south London in 1864. Similar systems using pneumatic tubes to send mail and packages between buildings have been in use since the late nineteenth century, and can still be seen in supermarkets and banks to move money around today.
One clear predecessor of the Hyperloop is the 'vactrain' concept developed by Robert Goddard early in the twentieth century; since then, many similar ideas have been proposed without much success.
However, it was entrepreneur Elon Musk who really reignited interest in the concept with his 'Hyperloop Alpha' paper in August 2013, which set out how a modern system would work -- and how much it would cost.
How would Hyperloop be powered?
The pods will get their velocity from an external linear electric motor -- effectively a round induction motor (like the one in the Tesla Model S) rolled flat. Under Musk's model, the Hyperloop would be powered by solar panels placed on the top of the tube which would allow the system to generate more energy than it needs to run.
How is Hyperloop different from high-speed trains?
Supporters argue that Hyperloop is significantly better than high-speed rail. It is lower cost and more energy efficient because, among other things, the track doesn't need to provide power to the pods continuously and, because the pods can leave every 30 seconds, it's more like an on-demand service. It's also potentially two or three times faster than even high-speed rail (and ten times the speed of regular rail services).
How much would a Hyperloop cost to build?
For the LA to San Francisco Hyperloop that Musk envisaged, he came up with a price tag of under $6bn. Musk envisioned an LA to San Francisco journey time of half an hour with pod departures every 30 seconds, each carrying 28 passengers.
Spreading the capital cost over 20 years and adding in operational costs, Musk came up with the figure of $20 plus operating costs for a one-way ticket on the passenger Hyperloop.
Most of the cost of the system lies in building the tube network: the overall cost of the tube, pillars, vacuum pumps, and stations was calculated at just over $4bn for the passenger version of Hyperloop ($7bn for a slightly larger version that could also take freight). The cost of the capsules was put at around $1.35m apiece; with 40 needed for the service, the cost of these is around $54m (or $70m for a mix of passenger and cargo capsules). That's less than 9% of the cost of the proposed passenger-only high-speed rail system.
What will it feel like to travel in a Hyperloop?
Critics of Hyperloop have warned that traveling in the tube might be an uncomfortable experience, due to nausea-inducing acceleration, plus lateral G-force on bends in the route. However, Virgin Hyperloop One says that a journey via Hyperloop will feel about the same as riding in an elevator or a passenger plane.
"Although Hyperloop will be fast, the systems we are building will accelerate with the same tolerable G-forces as that of taking off in a Boeing 747," it said. Acceleration and deceleration will be gradual, it added, with no G-forces and turbulence.
Traveling in a concrete pipe in a windowless pod means there isn't going to be much to look at; Musk's original vision said that "beautiful landscape will be displayed in the cabin" and each passenger will have to access to their own personal entertainment system.
How much will Hyperloop tickets cost?
Musk's LA to San Francisco version offered tickets at just $20 but Virgin Hyperloop One is vaguer on its plans: "Difficult to say as it will depend greatly on the route, but the goal is to make it affordable for everyone," it said, while Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) said it expects "a profitable system with low ticket price projections".
US projects won't be complete until around 20 30 which might sound like a long time but airplanes took about 16 years to really get up and running and the first high-speed rail, in japan took at least a decade of development. So, some 15 years for a hyperloop doesn't seem that far off,
after all,
“How can we be a 22nd-century country when were built upon the technology of the 19th century upon the 20th century a single lane of hyperloop can do more than 30 thousand passengers an hour. what are you going to invest in what's the thing that you should invest in that allows you to get the future demand the future needs that you have a shift is possible if we choose to embrace it?”