HYPERLOOP FOR THE UK?

Hyperloop One has announced its Vision For Europe – a series of proposed routes for Hyperloop transportation systems in mainland Europe and the UK.

First proposed by Elon Musk in 2012, Hyperloop is a hybrid electric/maglev system designed to shift people and cargo long distances at very high speeds, by placing them in pressurised pods that travel through tubes in which a partial vacuum is maintained. There are several companies and teams of scientists and engineers working worldwide to develop Hyperloop systems, including Hyperloop One, Hyperloop Transport Technologies and TransPod.

Citing the success of Eurostar trains in capturing 70 per cent of cross- Channel traffic in just a few years, Hyperloop’s Vision For Europe proposes routes linking Corsica to Sardinia, Spain to Morocco, and Estonia to Finland. There are also suggested routes in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands, plus three in the UK. One of these routes would link Cardiff and Glasgow, via Bristol, Oxford, London, Cambridge, Nottingham, Newcastle and Edinburgh. For this route, Hyperloop One has been working with engineering firm AECOM. A second route, dubbed the Northern Arc, has been proposed in association with architects Ryder and engineering firm Arup, and would link Liverpool to Glasgow via Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh. Finally, the North-South Connector route, which has been developed in association with students and faculty at the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University, would link London and Edinburgh via Manchester and Birmingham.

All three of the routes are, it should be stressed, strictly speculative propositions at this stage. But the fact that so many leading businesses and academic institutions around the world are taking the Hyperloop project seriously suggests it may become a reality sooner than we think.