Could this be the year of the Hyperloop? Wait, what is the Hyperloop? The Hyperloop is almost a train, but not quite a train. Hyperloop is a transport system initially proposed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk who has described the revolutionary transport as “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table”.
It will involve passengers travelling in pods levitating inside massive tubes, surrounded by a cushion of air. This cushion, along with the reduced air pressure inside the tubes, drastically lowers friction and allows pods to travel at immensely high speeds in safety – similar to how a puck glides in a game of air hockey.
Friction
The pods will be propelled either by magnets (a system called passive magnetic levitation) or air expelled from the vessels themselves, and the tubes would be suspended off the ground to protect against weather conditions and earthquakes. Removing almost all friction from the technology means the Hyperloop could reportedly carry passengers at 1223 Kmph – just shy of the speed of sound – with unmanned pods (for cargo applications) able to top 1,300 Kmph. This is faster than any commercial airliner in existence, though supersonic aircraft could again be airborne by around 2025. Think of London and Edinburgh in less than 30 minutes, Dubai-Abu Dhabi in 12 minutes, Los Angeles-San Francisco in 34 minutes and Colombo-Jaffna in about 18 minutes.
The advantages of Hyperloop over air travel are very obvious – just like today’s trains, the Hyperloop will connect city centre to city centre – just forget about getting to and from airports that are sometimes 50-60 km away from the city centre. And if you don’t like being in a flying metal tube, you can opt for this ground-based metal tube that will never really crash. The economies of scale will also be impressive – no single aircraft, not even the giant Airbus A380 can carry more than 600 passengers at the moment whereas the Hyperloop will be able to accommodate more commuters at once depending on the number of pods installed. It could also make cross-border travel easier and faster. Autonomous cars will also be allowed to use the Hyperloop, say the developers.
Two companies, Hyperloop one and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies are already developing the technology, although Musk has no hand in either one. He is however happy that his proposal is literally gaining traction. This year looks to be a very big year for Hyperloop systems, with several full-scale tests planned in US and other parts of the world. The first full-size Hyperloop One test is set to take place in Las Vegas, the site of its previous demo in May 2016, in the first three months of 2017. The trial will aim to propel a prototype about 500m along a track. Around 35 countries including neighbouring India have been shortlisted from a list of countries where the first Hyperloop tracks will be built. Governments around the world have shown a keen willingness to participate in the Hyperloop development programmes of both companies. Hyperloop events will be held in Dubai, New Delhi and Washington DC to showcase the technology.
The train industry has not essentially changed for around 100 years, with the exception of certain high speed trains such as Shinkansen of Japan and TGV of France both of which can reach more than 300 Km/hour. But the Hyperloop will obliterate those services with its massive speed. Trains will not go away – their appeal is rather different – but Hyperloop will get you there sooner. Eventually, the Hyperloop could develop into a sort of subway system, but for an entire country instead of a city.
But what are the negative points about Hyperloop ? The cost will be prohibitive for most countries, but transport systems are designed for the long run and any recovery of costs will anyway take generations. However, experts point out that a Hyperloop system will cost much less than a conventional high speed railway track, including a conventional maglev track as seen in Shanghai. For the same distance, a Hyperloop system is projected to cost 10 times less, which is a very substantial saving. A conventional high speed rail system slated to be built in California, USA, linking San Francisco and Los Angeles (560 Km, current train travel time 12 hours, just one hour fifteen minutes by air) is projected to cost around US$ 65 billion, which is an entire budget of most developing countries. A Hyperloop will cost much less. There is however no guarantee that passenger tickets will be less expensive, due to factors other than construction costs (loan repayments, salaries, maintenance etc).
Windows
If you travel inside a tube chances are that you are not going to have windows, which is a big selling point on trains and to a lesser extent, on planes. The train is a favourite away to connect with the outdoors but the Hyperloop is a sort of indoor tube. The answer could be digital screens and Virtual Reality (VR) systems that show the world outside in real time – a few ocean liners already provide a live feed of the ocean outside on huge wall to wall screens of inside staterooms and cabins for the benefit of their guests.
This is not implausible, given that even plane manufacturers such as Airbus are already contemplating such technology to eliminate costs and the drag caused by thick glass.
Some experts have also stated that passenger comfort could be a problem when they are subject to such high speeds. “You don’t need to understand lateral acceleration or canting or g-force (fortunately) to realize how unpleasant it will be to ride the Hyperloop. There’s a reason more people prefer the train in the U.S.’s Northeast Corridor, even though the plane is slightly quicker (and often slightly cheaper): it’s a more comfortable, productive ride.
The Hyperloop would be faster than a High Speed Rail, but not much faster once you factor in terminals outside downtown areas, and travel time saved is only worth so much if it’s spent feeling sick,” one expert wrote in the Atlantic magazine recently.
Moreover, it will not always be possible to construct “straight as an arrow” tracks, where the Hyperloop will be most effective.
Hyperloop experts are already thinking outside the box, with some predicting that Hyperloops could eventually connect continents. No, the plane will not go away - they too are getting faster - but who would not like the idea of being hurtled towards your destination at 1,200 Kmph while still being attached to terra firma? We hope the Hyperloop will live up to the hype.