US-based company Hyperloop One has released the first pictures of its 500m full-scale test track in Nevada, as well as further details on a planned Hyperloop system to connect the Gulf region.
Having signed an agreement with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority last year, Hyperloop One is planning on making supersonic rail a reality, connecting the cities of the UAE as well as the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Based on a concept first tabled by Elon Musk, the high-speed transport network could connect a host of major cities across the Middle East in less than an hour.
The new test track – or DevLoop – 30 minutes outside Las Vegas, brings that vision a step closer to reality. Measuring 3.3m in diameter, the DevLoop builds on last year’s open-air propulsion test. According to Hyperloop One, the first tests on the new track will take place in the first half of 2017.
“Our team of more than 150 engineers, technicians and fabricators have been transforming what was, just over five months ago, a barren stretch of desert, into a hive of activity and now home to the world’s first full-scale Hyperloop test site,” said Josh Giegel, president of engineering and co-founder of Hyperloop One.
“We have come so far in such a short space of time, and our team of over 240 employees are working tirelessly to eliminate the barriers of distance and time and reinvent transportation.”
Progress on the DevLoop was announced at Middle East Rail, an industry event taking place in Dubai. Delivering the international keynote, Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd outlined the ways in which the technology could benefit the region.
“While technology is revolutionising many facets of our lives, we have not seen a radical change in transportation since the Wright brothers introduced air travel over 100 years ago,” he said.
“Tying together the Middle East region would produce greater virtual density, without congestion and pollution, spurring innovation, productivity, job growth and more powerful sharing of knowledge, labour and investment. Building a Hyperloop would vastly impact the economy and make any major city in the GCC accessible within one hour.”
Is anyone else thinking that this is likely to become a prime target for terrorists?
no more than anything else in the world.
Totally.
Also waiting for the obvious military applications of this new wonder-mech.
Let’s tear up HS2 and start again!
Lets just tear up HS2 and add capacity to the existing railway.
Let’s tear up the idiots who conceived it as well
How are you going to control the jihad problem with technology. I get how it can tie the USA Gulf region together or the East Coast or West Coast cities especially if it is BURIED making it a high speed subway. Over the ground will shift migration routes, sand dune formation, not to mention it will be in constant repair from being BLOWN UP. Ya ijits! It is a little like Tesla’s towers.
I wonder how the costings would stack up to build Hyperloop instead of HS2.
I suspect as history tends to repeat itself HS2 will cost like windfarms both offshore and on shore have ultimately cost a fortune whilst tidal power which is 24/7 could have been far less intrusive but was left to try to develop with scant resources that were a fraction of that given to windfarms.
Just look at the times this country has led in aviation but then either given it to the Americans or scrapped it because of political expediency or ineptitude.
The British industrial revolution was built by engineers and creators not lawyers and accountants. There was nothing Little England about the British Empire and yet there are those that think we cannot survive outside a failing market of 500million. If the EU had been run with success as its objective rather than political union like the Empire it would have been a brilliant success and we would not be voting to leave it. No one would vote to leave the fastest ship in the convoy.
Regarding terrorists and Hyperloop as long as you have organisations like WikiLeaks handing terrorists a loaded gun it will be a problem but not one beyond the wit of today’s smart engineers. I am winding down after over 50 years but there are some very clever Guys and Gals out there that will provide the answers despite the misguided and undermining efforts of WikiLeaks.
There is no empire now, nor any chance of creating one on Earth. There is just one small country so how are you going to ensure that there is a large market for whatever it is that your engineers create?
It would be interesting to see the economics of HS2 but I bet a lot of it is not about the train itself. So you might build a hyperloop on the route later when and if the economics and risks make sense.