Global race for first Hyperloop goes into hyperdrive

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies claims it is winning the race to bring super-speed transport to the UAE, just as the technology entrepreneur Elon Musk is moving on with plans for a network between New York and Washington DC.

The Hyperloop, being developed by his Boring Company, plans to reduce travel times for the fastest Amtrack trains – three hours – to just one hour using similar pods fired through underground electromagnetic tubes.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop One plans to use the same technology on routes in Asia, Europe and North America. It has a test site in the Las Vegas desert.

Virgin Hyperloop One aims to begin full-scale testing by 2021, with feasibility studies being conducted for routes in Colorado and Missouri.

The technology appears to be a viable alternative to congested roads and air traffic subject to weather delays, yet some remain sceptical it will ever become mainstream.

Critics include the Institute of Transportation Studies at University of California, Los Angeles, whose associate director Juan Matute said a reliable Hyperloop system may never be implemented.

Regulation, government approval and environmental concerns could halt further developments, but HyperloopTT insists the company’s dialogue with Abu Dhabi makes it the most likely company to be in operation first.

Forbes magazine suggested a mile of Hyperloop track could cost up to US$121 million but those at HyperloopTT claim routes using renewable and kinetic energy would soon become cost neutral.

In 2016, Khalid Mohamed Hashim, acting executive director of land transport at the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport in Abu Dhabi, said a higher connectivity between two of the largest cities in the Emirates would mean less reliance on private vehicles and traditional public transport modes.