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WHAT IS A HYPERLOOP?
Passengers or cargo are loaded into a Hyperloop vehicle and accelerate gradually via electric propulsion through a lowpressure tube. The pod floats above a track via magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultralow aerodynamic drag. It can be built on columns above ground or tunnelled
below to avoid crossings and wildlife. HOW FAST IS IT?
Top speed is 670 miles per hour or 1080 kilometres per hour. It is two to three times faster than highspeed rail and magnetic levitation trains, and 10-15 times faster than traditional rail.
HOW NOISY IS IT?
Based on its non-contact motion through a steel tube it is anticipated the noise you’d hear from the outside the tube as the pod goes by at 800km/h would be equivalent to the sound of a truck with no wheels and no engine going 100km/h down a motorway. In other words, just a big whoosh.
WHERE DOES IT GET ITS POWER?
The system draws power from whichever energy sources are available along the route. If that means solar and wind, then the entire system is 100 per cent carbon free.
WHAT WOULD IT FEEL LIKE TO RIDE?
The same as riding in an elevator or passenger plane. Although Hyperloop will be fast, the systems accelerate with the same tolerable G forces as that of taking off in a Boeing 747. You accelerate and decelerate gradually. And there’s no turbulence.
WHEN WOULD IT BE READY FOR USE?
Hyperloop One, which counts Virgin mogul Richard Branson as an investor, has a goal of having operational systems by 2021. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BUILD AND OPERATE? Capital and operating costs will range widely based on route and application (passenger, cargo) but third parties have concluded the capital and operational costs of a Hyperloop system is twothirds that of high-speed rail.