Edinburgh University group to test Superfast pod
◆ HYPED president dismisses claims hyperloop technology is dead despite the collapse of one of the original firms involved
of the longest-running university groups helping to develop potentially-revolutionary 600mph ground travel has challenged claims the technology is dead as it prepares to trial a new prototype on a test track in Scotland.
Hyperloop would see passengers travel in electrically-powered pods along a frictionless vacuum tube, cutting Edinburgh-london journeys to 45 minutes – six times faster than by rail.
Reports last month suggested development of the concept had been halted by the collapse of one of the original firmsinvolved,hyperloopone, which had been previously backed by Sir Richard Branson.
University of Edinburgh hyperloop group HYPED told The Scotsman that while the company’s closure had been expected, its own plans were firing ahead unaffected. However, some academics remain to be convinced about the technology.
HYPED president Juraj Pavlovic said: “I strongly disagree that the end of Hyperloop One is the end of hyperloop. I’ve read headlines all over the internet that hyperloop is dead for real this time, but I couldn’t disagree more.iwasnotsurprisedabout the demise of Hyperloop One. It was the first hyperloop companies and while it did quite well at first, there were multiple leadership changes, then Virgin pulled out its funds – there were signs this company wasn’t going anywhere.”
Mr Pavlovic admitted hyperloop had suffered from being overhyped, raising expectations that it would be developed within a few years, when he predicted it remained decades away.
He said: “This is a technology which is still in its very early stages and we’ll need to wait at leastanother30yearsbeforewe see it being implemented.”
However, he said it was sigone nificant that Elon Musk, who first championed the concept more than ten years ago, had not backtracked on it despite Hyperloop One folding.
Mr Pavlovic said: “Musk is not very vocal about it, but he has not said he regrets his decision to publish the Hyperloop Alpha white paper in 2013, or that the technology may not be feasible.”
He said hyperloop would meet the demand for non-polluting high-speed travel as short-haul flights were increasingly phased out because of environmental concerns.
“It is becoming clearer that flights are big polluters, but the demand for travel is still rising. High-speed trains don’t go as as fast as planes, so a solution
We are already travelling as fast in aeroplanes, but the pods will accelerate faster HYPED president Juraj Pavlovic
to that would be hyperloop because its speed is going to reach 500-1,000kmh (310620mph) – which you would expect on a short-haul flight, but with a greener energy source. It will replace shorthaul flights and connect cities both within countries and continents, but transcontinental travel in a hyperloop will be unlikelybecausebuildinganetwork over such long distances will be too expensive.”
Thepodswouldcarryaround 30 people each, operating at high frequencies such as every few minutes.
But Mr Pavlovic admitted passengers would have to be won over to the concept because of the acceleration involved. He said: “People are not convinced yet, purely because we haven’t yetseenwhathyperloopcanbe.
“We are already travelling as fast in aeroplanes, but the pods will accelerate faster. Further research will have to be done on the human body and what acceleration an average traveller would be happy to be subjected to.
“Rapid acceleration can be madecomfortable–aeroplanes reach their speeds quite fast.”
Making travel in a windowless compartment would also have to be made palatable. Mr Pavlovic said: “There would be no view, but the way to mitigate thatwouldbetohavesomekind of screens displaying the scenery which passengers would be seeing outside if there was a window there. Some pods may have more space so people wouldfeellessclaustrophobic.”
The HYPED president predicted that hyperloop would catch the popular imagination once it was demonstrated on a larger scale, since the longest test track built to date is only 500m.
Hesaid:“oncea2kmtesttrack is built and people can see what kind of speeds can be reached, then more investors will come in,itwillgetmoreattentionand progress will start accelerating. Hopefully more and more people will start to realise that this is a technology that would work.”
A university group from
Munich holds the record of 288mph, set in 2019.
Mr Pavlovic said other companies working on the technology included Hardt Hyperloop in the Netherlands, which is building a test site for switching pods between tracks, while Zeleros Hyperloop in Spain is designing a system for rapidly moving shipping containers within a port.
HYPED’S sixth and latest prototype passenger-less pod since being formed nine years ago is due to be demonstrated on its 100m test track at the University of Edinburgh’s King’s Buildings science and engineering campusaroundjune,although the expected speed of the 2.5m long and 1.5m wide pod remain
under wraps. However, some academics remain lukewarm if not hostile to the concept. Responding to The Scotsman’s request for comment via the Science Media Centre, Professor Roderick Smith, of the Future Rail Research Centre at Imperial College London, said: “Hyperloop would be better called Hyperloopy.
“It is a froth of little understanding of costs, safety and engineering possibilities. It should come as no surprise that Hyperloop One has folded and many similar companies will follow.
“It can be confidently predicted no significant projects will ever come to passenger-carrying fruition.”