Hyperloop carries people at 1,000kph
LOS ANGELES: The Virgin Hyperloop made its first journey carrying passengers on Sunday, in a test the company claimed represented a major step forward for the “groundbreaking” technology capable of transporting people at 1,000kph
The Hyperloop is intended to carry passengers in small pods through a vacuum tube, with proponents arguing it could revolutionise high-speed travel.
Virgin said the Hyperloop would be able to reach top speeds o f 1 ,0 8 0 k p h , p r o j e c t i n g a 45-minute journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and would produce no carbon emissions.
But until Sunday, the technology, first proposed by eccentric United States tech magnate Elon Musk in 2012, had not been tested with people on board.
Two Virgin employees made the 500m journey in a two-person vehicle in just 15 seconds at a test site in the Nevada desert.
Passenger Sara Luchian told the BBC she felt the trip was “exhilarating both psychologically and physically”, and reported no discomfort.
Once brought into regular use, the pods would be able to transport up to 28 people at a time, Virgin said, with larger models for moving goods also
Ain development.
Virgin’s Hyperloop has raised more than US$400 million, largely from company chief executive officer Richard Branson and the logistics company DP World, which is owned by the Dubai government.
Virgin is one of a number of companies working to develop the technology.
But while Branson on Sunday hailed the success of the “groundbreaking” Hyperloop, concerns have dogged developers about just how safe the technology would be.
One researcher at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology, argued that the high speeds involved could turn the Hyperloop into a “barf ride”.