Hyperloop co-founder pushes T.O. connection
The entrepreneur attempting to make reality of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop dream — an efficient, green replacement to high- speed rail in the form of a capsule barrelling at the speed of sound through a vacuum- sealed tube — foresees a Toronto connection to the Hyperloop.
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies co-founder and chief executive Dirk Ahlborn said it “makes a lot of sense” for Toronto to be included in a Great Lakes Hyperloop network in light of a new feasibility study that concluded a Hyperloop connecting Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be a boon to the economy.
“Obviously, Toronto’s a part of the Great Lakes,” Ahlborn told media at a Toronto conference on public-private partnerships. “One of the next steps might be to move up.”
The American feasibility study, conducted over 18 months with input from 80 organizations, is the latest ammunition Hyperlooptt has to convince governments and developers to consider its technology before building old- school rail projects. Hyperlooptt paid for half, and an Ohio agency covered the rest of the bill for the report.
Ahlborn made his pitch in Toronto this week to an audience of infrastructure officials and mega-builders in the throes of discussing how to execute Ontario’s $28.5-billion transit expansion plans.
“Before doing anything they should look at this,” Ahlborn said in his presentation.
The hyperloop aims to create airplane conditions on earth to move a pod through a low pressure, sealed tube. The pods move at up to 1,200 km/ h using a passive magnetic levitation system that’s powered entirely by solar power and regenerative braking.
It will be expensive to build — $ 20 to $ 30 million per kilometre, or maybe double that depending on the conditions, Ahlborn said — yet the operating and maintenance costs will be drastically lower than traditional transit systems due to less exposure to the elements and cheaper energy. Hyperloop argues this will reduce transit subsidies.
The Hyperloop doesn’t exist in a real- world application outside its testing centres yet, but Abu Dhabi, UAE, has ordered a commercial system that Ahlborn expects will be built within three years.
Canada has shown interest. Earlier this year, Transport Canada commissioned a study on Hyperloop technology, including the feasibility of a route between Toronto and Montreal. That said, transit officials don’t appear to be seriously considering it as they get started on the $28.5-billion plan.