Hyperloop freight centre in Brazil to put cargo through its paces
Building blocks for the future design of global transport have been set in place 12,000 kilometres away from Abu Dhabi, in the industrial heart of Brazil.
The emirate may be the first major city to benefit from Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, as a continuing study determines whether the high-speed magnetic levitation system comes to the UAE. But the rest of the world is starting to take notice.
A former foundry covering 2.2 hectares in Contagem, near the Brazilian city Belo Horizonte, has been turned into a freight and cargo centre from which the technology can operate.
“In this area, the government wants to give us the space for a freight terminal,” says Bibop Gresta, president and co-founder of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies.
“Because of the feasibility studies for a passenger service that have already been done in Abu Dhabi, we are slightly behind here in Brazil with the freight service but it will continue to develop in phases.
“The size of Brazil is not a problem. We have built and tested prototypes. Now is the time to build. We are past the time of testing in the desert.
“Passenger tubes and capsules have arrived in Toulouse and we are connecting that side of the technology very soon.”
The Contagem centre will also serve as one of innovation, with a hyperloop academy collaborating with local universities to tutor some of the country’s brightest minds.
“This is the first of a series of research and development centres similar to the one we have in Toulouse, where we are building a full-scale hyperloop system,” Mr Gresta says.
“It will be an incubator for technologies and an experimental space for freight services. The hyperloop system is creating a technology that is similar to that of the space technology.”
He has not yet said when the technology will be commercially available.
Much like the UAE, the region of Minas Gerais has become a hotbed for innovation, inviting established tech companies such as Google and start-ups to thrive with government backing.
Although no Brazilian route has yet been announced, the government has vowed to fasttrack development of a technology that developers claim will change the world.
The prospect of removing cargo lorries from the region’s congested roads has been widely welcomed by government officials, while the community is eagerly anticipating the opportunity of more jobs.
Hyperloop is fast developing into an industry with a busy market place.
While other tech companies such as Hyperloop One are developing their versions of passenger pods, Canadian newcomer Trans Podis is planning a prototype track in Limoges, France, and hopes to attract US$50 million (Dh 183.6m) of investment.
Rival companies continue to emerge but the Brazilian company looks like becoming the first to make the dream of supersonic public transport an accessible reality.
A 1 kilometre passenger test track in Toulouse, another city in line to benefit from the technology, is due to be ready this year.
Travelling at 1,200kph may not be for everyone but Nasa astronaut and HTT ambassador Yvonne Cagle claims the experience will feel as effortless as jet travel.
“Examining the challenges placed on the human body by travelling at supersonic speeds and pushing our physical capabilities to the limit has helped us to understand what impact travelling by hyperloop will have,” Dr Cagle says.
“There is a resilience of the human body and it has an ability to adapt. Hyperloop is capable and ready to push those boundaries.
“It is feasible for humans to travel this way and it has been a privilege to bring the lessons we have learnt from space technology to develop the hyperloop experience.”
Dr Cagle’s career started in biochemistry, then moved into aerospace physiology in high-performance jets and the effect on the human body.
She is assigned to the Johnson Space Centre’s space and life sciences division.
“Most of the physical effects will be experienced in the transition phase of travelling by hyperloop,” she says.
“This is something many of us will already have experienced before with acceleration, either spinning around on roller skates or diving into a swimming pool.
“After than initial acceleration, the speed is hardly noticeable at all. It will feel more like travelling on an aircraft than a rollercoaster.”
Experts who have bought into the HTT project are working for shares in the company.
That business model has attracted some of the finest scientists around the world, including some from Nasa, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Developers claim the technology could become intercontinental with hugely reduced travel times. It could also be eco-friendly, with systems being tested powered by solar, wind, geothermal and kinetic energy.
“Brazil is very different to the UAE but there are big opportunities in both countries, and we are now looking at the demands and what is required from us,” says Andres de Leon, chief executive of Hyperloop.
“It is important for the UAE to understand that we are trying to connect this technology around the world in Toulouse, Belo Horizonte and Abu Dhabi, where the technology and innovation will be shared.
“It will play a part in creating jobs of the future and the dynamics of these economies.”
Hyperloop is fast developing into an industry with a busy market place