Tubular travel to Toronto in 39 minutes?
Hyperloop One says route a possibility
Montreal-Toronto could become the target of a hyperloop system, having won a global challenge for proposals by the company Hyperloop One.
If the system is built as promised, it could reduce commute times between the country’s two largest cities to less than an hour.
The company unveiled its top10 routes in the world, chosen from among 2,600 proposals, and the Montreal-Toronto route was among them, submitted by the company AECOM.
The proposed hyperloop system would see a massive low-pressure tube built around the route, and passengers would travel through the tube in specially designed pods, which look like cars.
The company said the pods could travel at a speed in excess of 1,000 kilometres per hour. It uses “magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag.”
The company claims the experience will feel like riding in an elevator, with no turbulence.
Hyperloop One says it hopes to build three systems by the year 2021, but it will have to have partnerships with local governments and the private sector to approve and finance the projects.
The company recently completed a test tunnel in the Nevada dessert and the pods tested reached a speed of 200 miles per hour, or 320 kilometres per hour.
The Canadian hyperloop proposal plans to link Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
With a trip between Toronto and Ottawa taking 27 minutes, Montreal to Ottawa in 12 minutes, and Toronto to Montreal in 39 minutes.
Now that the top-10 routes have been unveiled, Hyperloop One will conduct further studies and come up with business cases for each.