Hyperloop

The hyperloop is a proposed ground-transport system that would use vacuum and magnetic levitation-powered tube trains to facilitate high-speed travel between urban hubs. First suggested by entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2012, the hyperloop would transport passengers and freight in special vehicles capable of traveling at speeds of more than 700 miles per hour. Unlike a traditional track-based train, the hyperloop is designed to float above its track using magnetic levitation or a cushion of pressurized air. In addition, the tube through which the hyperloop train travels would be depressurized to minimize friction and make the train as efficient as possible. While no full-scale hyperloop has yet been built, a number of companies, including Virgin Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), are working to make hyperloop transportation a reality in the years to come. In the United States, one proposed hyperloop route is planned to link Los Angeles and San Francisco in California, while another is planned to link New York, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.

Background

While Elon Musk first introduced the concept of the hyperloop in 2012 and subsequently challenged other tech companies to build it, the basic idea of air pressure-driven transportation dates back to the invention of the first artificial vacuum in the seventeenth century. That key breakthrough soon led to the development of numerous early pneumatic transportation systems.

The idea of using air pressure to transport goods through cast-iron pipes was first suggested by British inventor George Medhurst in 1799. Later in 1844, Medhurst expanded on this idea and successfully built a railway station in London that featured pneumatically powered passenger cars as a means of transportation. Although these cars only operated for a few years, they represented the first step toward hyperloop technology.

In the 1850s and 1860s, several pneumatic railways were built in London, Paris, and Dublin. One of these railways, known as the London Pneumatic Despatch Company, was designed to facilitate the rapid transport of mail but was large enough that it could also accommodate human passengers. Operated into the 1870s, the railway was eventually shut down when it proved to be ineffective and inefficient.

At around the same time, another air-powered railway was also constructed in South London's Crystal Palace Park. Called the Crystal Palace atmospheric railway, this unique train was propelled through a tunnel that traversed the park by a large fan with reversible blades.

Pneumatic transportation debuted in the United States with the opening of New York City's Beach Pneumatic Transit in 1870. Named for its creator, Alfred Ely Beach, it consisted of a one-car shuttle that was propelled by compressed air. One of the earliest precursors of the New York subway system, the Beach Pneumatic Transit system operated for three years before it was officially shuttered.

Another major step toward the hyperloop came when rocket engineer Robert Goddard designed an advanced underground train that he theorized would be able to transport passengers between New York and Boston in only twelve minutes. Goddard's super train was never built, but it foreshadowed the hyperloop in that it was to incorporate both air propulsion and magnetic levitation. Similar hypothetical rail systems were proposed in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Overview

Like some of its short-lived predecessors, the hyperloop is intended to be a system of transportation in which a pod-like train car will travel through a partially depressurized tube while held above a track by magnetic levitation or on top of a cushion of air. This unique design will minimize friction and theoretically allow the car to travel at speeds exceeding 700 miles per hour. Effectively, the hyperloop is meant to function as an alternative to air travel over short distances and make travel between urban population centers as quick and efficient as possible.

The basic design of the hyperloop involves a pod car that would initially be powered by an electric motor until it enters the main low-pressure environment tube. Within this tube, which could be built above or below ground, the pod will glide along at a high cruising speed made possible by magnetics, pneumatics, or some combination thereof. In most proposed hyperloop designs, the passenger pods, which are roughly the size of a small bus, will be entirely autonomous and can be launched as often as every twenty seconds.

When Elon Musk—the founder of such successful companies as PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX— first suggested the idea for the hyperloop during a speaking engagement in California in 2012, he described a visionary transportation system that would be faster and more efficient than traditional methods of air and rail travel. Although he was deeply committed to bringing the hyperloop to life, Musk was too busy with other businesses and projects to oversee its construction himself. As a result, he subsequently chose to make the hyperloop's design open source, so other companies could work on building it themselves. While Musk would have input on and provide funding for the project through SpaceX, other private investors and entrepreneurs would take responsibility for bringing it to fruition.

Once Musk made the hyperloop's design open source, several companies stepped up to work on their own versions of the proposed transportation system. Chief among these companies were Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) and Virgin Hyperloop One. Both companies quickly began work on developing their own hyperloop systems, most of which are tentatively going to be built outside the United States. Virgin Hyperloop One has designed proposed hyperloop routes that would connect numerous European cities. Some of these include routes between London and Edinburgh, Helsinki and Stockholm, and Spain and Morocco. The company has also proposed a number of possible routes in the United States and India. HHT, meanwhile, has proposed notable routes that would connect Brno in the Czech Republic to Bratislava in Slovakia, as well as the cities of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

As part of the hyperloop development project, Musk and SpaceX built a one-mile test track in California, where the first successful hyperloop test runs were conducted in early 2017. Later that year, similar runs held at test tracks in Nevada yielded equally successful results. In May, pods traveling on one of these tracks reached 70 miles per hour. During another test several months later, a hyperloop pod achieved a top speed of 192 miles per hour. In 2023, Hyperloop One ceased operations after failing to produce a viable prototype. Though other similar projects continued around the world, by 2024, no functioning hyperloop had been constructed.

Bibliography

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