The Hyperloop Train is making news...big news...Again! The Future Is Almost Here
What is the Hyperloop train and what can it do? Well, you probably thought space was the answer to fast travel. For years engineers have said that space travel of the future – at least to orbital heights, would allow us to commute faster, using the earths rotation and sheer speed of a rocket.
It’s the stuff that science fiction is made of. But nothing more has really evolved on speedy transport. In fact, one could say in the transport world, we have gone backwards when it comes to speed. With the uneconomical and space cramped Concorde being retired, we no longer can make our way over the Transatlantic in any great speed.
So, what’s next? A domestic answer for commuters.
The Hyperloop Train: Travel in the fifth dimension
It is called “The Hyperloop train” and, according to the designer, it will be a
revolutionary “fifth mode” of transport, that will get passengers from San
Fransisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes.
Enter the Hyperloop train. We are now witnessing space travel of the future, but brought to earth. It will not offer any solutions to transatlantic trips or be useful over long distances, but the Hyperloop train promises some speedy shuttle services between major cities.
Calling it a train is probably a misnomer. The Hyperloop One, as it is called, is really a tube within a tube that will have you zipping along a magnetic, friction-less field, to your next destination. In fact it is suggested that the Hyperloop One pod travels in a friction-less environment equivalent to flying at 200 000 ft. It resembles a train only in structural design of the actual vehicle. Imagine traveling from San Fransisco to LA in 30 mins….Or consider a 50 minute journey between London and Edinburgh ? A 2 hour mainline train ride to Birmingham from London is a chunk out of a commuters time. But imagine that same journey in the Hyperloop that will take just 14 minutes!
Well, this is the dream and vision of engineer and financier, Elon Musk. Sir Richard Branson, the British billionaire adventurer has seen the potential and Virgin now has a stake in the development of the Hyperloop One company with tests being carried out in the Nevada desert.
The “cross between Concorde, a rail gun and an air hockey table” will deliver passengers between US cities faster than the speed of sound. But is this just “pie in the sky” fantasy? Have a look at this great Guardian newspaper article on the high speed transport concept
So, is the Hyperloop One the answer to the proposed $70 billion high-speed train plan in the US, that has already found dissenting voices? While the critics rail against the progress, the irony is that the US, for all its First World aspects, has an infrastructure that is way behind the rest of the world. According to the co- financier, Elon Musk, this Hyperloop train would only cost $6 billion and would be far cheaper to operate.
So is this the future? I would imagine so. Yes, it will take longer than first predicted. Certainly it will have governmental “hoops” to overcome and the founders need to stay out of trouble to be taken seriously. (Are you listening, Elon?). It sound like an exciting concept and begs the question where technology is taking travel today?
Frankly, speeding about in a cylinder with no windows seems a bit intense to me. Forget hyperloop…lets just hyper-space. I have another idea for space travel of the future I am still waiting for “Beam me up, Scotty” – now that’s the way to go…just as long as I arrive in the same shape I left.