Houston not in the loop
A hyperloop system using sealed tubes for passengers may run from Fort Worth to Laredo
Efforts to bring a super-highspeed transportation system to Texas are poised to blow right past Houston as Dallas-area officials take the lead.
Officials with Virgin Hyperloop One and the DallasFort Worth Regional Transportation Council announced Wednesday their plans for a hyperloop system in a Dallasto-Fort Worth link.
Further, the two will study the feasibility of a longer line from Fort Worth to Laredo, passing through Waco, Austin and San Antonio.
“Virgin Hyperloop One is excited to pursue these projects, which would transform what are now separate metropolitan areas into one economic mega-region connected by high-speed transport,” Virgin Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd said in a statement.
A Houston leg from San
Antonio remains possible, but company officials said it is not part of the current projects.
Hyperloop relies on vacuum tubes and special pods for fasterthan-flight travel speeds, at times estimated at around 670 mph. Between Dallas and Fort Worth, the system would reach about 360 mph, quickly accelerating and decelerating for the 30-mile trip, which would take six minutes.
Developed from a proposal by Elon Musk, the co-founder of electric car company Tesla and founder and lead designer for rocket-maker SpaceX, the system would require miles of tubes above or below the ground as well as passenger stations.
During the last two years, the company, which has built Musk’s proposal independently, has drawn interest worldwide in the systems, along with expanding its team to include Virgin Group and that company’s founder, Richard Branson.
“Texas has always been a place we have been interested in, and it seems like a practical place to put the hyperloop system,” said Dan Katz, director of North American projects for Virgin Hyperloop One. “You have some large metro areas separated by a great deal of distance. And the topography of the state is flatter than a lot of places.”
Within Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth make an attractive starting point, he added.
“It is 30 miles from a populated place to another populated place,” Katz said.
While some have written off the idea as fantasy, others have said technology is rapidly making the system feasible, though costs remain unclear based on location and land values, along with a huge debate on the cost of building the line.
Musk has said a roughly 400mile hyperloop between Los Angeles and San Francisco would cost $7.5 billion to build and outfit with capsules. Others have said costs could be 10 times that.
Wednesday’s announcement fulfills part of the plan envisioned when Hyperloop Texas advanced in a global competition to develop the projects. The San Antonio-toHouston leg left out of the process is among the busiest corridors in the state.
Katz said the company is pro- ceeding based on where officials have shown interest, with North Texas officials promoting both the Dallas-Fort Worth and Fort Worth-to-Laredo lines.
Dallas officials toured the company’s Nevada test site earlier this year.
Interest in a direct Dallas-toHouston hyperloop has lagged, as Texas Central Partners has worked on a high-speed rail line between the metro areas.
Facing huge demands on travel between Texas’ biggest metro areas, however, officials across the state are looking at all options.
“Adding an option like hyperloop to the existing system of roadways, rail transit, bicycle/pedestrian facilities and high-speed rail to Houston would expand the system in an exciting way,” said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. “Connecting other regions in Texas through hyperloop would open up economic opportunities throughout the state.”