London to Edinburgh . . . in just 50 minutes

Now Branson invests in 670mph ‘hyperloop’ trains

But Sir Richard Branson hopes to slash that to just 50 minutes – investing in a hyperloop ‘train’.

This new form of transport would propel pods through a near-vacuum tube, reaching speeds of up to 670mph.

Passengers would be loaded into the pod before accelerating via electromagnetic propulsion through the tube – which can be built above or below ground.

The pod lifts above the track and glides as fast as a plane with minimal drag.

Entrepreneur Elon Musk – former PayPal boss and founder of electric car firm Tesla – came up with the concept, launching a contest to develop the technology in 2015. Virgin boss Sir Richard is spearheading a £65million investment in a Californian firm called ‘Hyperloop One’, which has built the first full- scale hyperloop testing tube and pod near Las Vegas.

The tube is about 1,600ft long and 11ft wide. During the most recent test – lasting 10.6 seconds – the pod reached 192mph.

A team of German students from the Technical University of Munich have reached 201mph – the first to top 200mph.

With speeds of up to 670mph, it could connect London and Birmingham in 14 minutes, with Birmingham to Manchester taking 12 minutes.

By comparison, a Virgin West Coast train has a top speed of 125mph, while the new HS2 trains will hit 250mph as it connects London and Edinburgh in three- and- a- half hours. The hyperloop would also be quicker than a flight between London and Edinburgh, which takes one hour and 15 minutes – as well as the time to travel to outof-town airports.

Calling hyperloop ‘the world’s most revolutionary train serv- ice’, Sir Richard said: ‘After visiting Hyperloop One’s test site in Nevada and meeting its leadership team this past summer, I am convinced this ground-breaking technology will change transportation as we know it and dramatically cut journey times.’

The firm – rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop One – says it will target the Netherlands, Finland and Dubai, where governments have given their backing.

Musk has boasted he will be able to get his version of Hyperloop up to speeds of 760mph.

In the summer he said he has received permission to build an underground hyperloop on the east coast of the US capable of connecting New York and Washington DC in just 29 minutes.

‘Change transport as we know it’