Hyperloop and will it be the future of transport?

What is Hyperloop and will it be the future of transport?

The futuristic transport system Hyperloop has come a long way since entrepreneur Elon Musk proposed a "fifth mode of transport" in 2012. The concept, in which commuters are whisked through a tube at speeds in excess of 700mph, has developed rapidly with inventors and investors giving their backing.

While it may have seemed like fantasy, and there are still lots of reasons to be skeptical about this "future of transport", plans for Hyperloop and the companies behind it are making progress towards their first operational tunnels.

But what is a Hyperloop? Why does Musk back the idea? Who are the companies pushing the tech? Read on to get beyond the hype and see if you are a Hyperloop believer.

What is Hyperloop and how does it work?

Hyperloop is a proposed system of transport that would see pods or containers travel at high speeds through a tube that has been pumped into a near-vacuum. The train pods would either float using magnetic levitation technology or float using air caster "skis", similar to how pucks travel across an air hockey table.

With so little friction in the tunnel, the pods would be able to travel at immense speeds with a projected top speeds of 760mph.

The pod would initially launch using an electric motor before levitation takes place and the pod can glide at cruising speed in the low-pressure environment. Tunnels for the Hyperloop would be built either above or below ground, at only around 3m in diameter, taking up a smaller ground footprint than traditional rail and road.

Many of the current designs feature autonomous pods that can be launched on demand as frequently as every 20 seconds. Others suggest eco-friendly designs, powering the pressure pumps with clean energy such as solar.

What is Hyperloop?

A mode of transport that propels a pod through a low-pressure tube at theoretical speeds of up to 760mph. The low air resistance allows the pod to travel faster than conventional trains.

Who invented it?

Elon Musk popularised the idea in a white paper in 2013 although the idea of using air pressure to move transport has been around since the 18th century.

When will it be built?

One company, Hyperloop One, says it plans to build the first functioning Hyperloop systems by 2021. It completed and tested its first 500m prototype track in the Nevada desert.

Will there be one in the UK?

Possibly. Hyperloop One has proposed routes for the UK, although its first targets have been in the Netherlands, Finland and Dubai, where it has backing from the governments to explore the potential of the system.

Where did the idea come from?

The idea of travelling through a vacuum tube and been around for more than 100 years. In fact, some of the very first underground railways in the UK ran using an air pressure system. But the current idea for the Hyperloop came from Elon Musk, the entepreneur behind PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX in 2012.

Speaking at an event in California, he proposed a system of transport that would be immune to weather, twice the speed of a plane and have a lower power consumption. He later went on to describe his technology as a cross between a railgun, Concorde and an air hockey table.

Musk claimed high-speed rail was too expensive and too slow in a paper he released in 2013. For distances of around 900 miles, a Hyperloop tube would be a more efficient means of transporting people and transport, he claimed.

From an early stage, Hyperloop's design was made open source. Musk's own commercial re-usable rocket venture Space X would have input in researching and funding the ideas, but would not directly make the first Hyperloops. That would fall to private investors and entrepreneurs. 

Who is developing the first Hyperloop?

There have been several companies looking to create the first commercial Hyperloop and competitions to develop the technology that will make the transport system a reality.

Space X has held initial design competitions for teams to build and test pods which could be used on the Hyperloop. Running since 2015, there have been more than 1,000 team entries to the competition to work on system, including a team from the University of Edinburgh which has reached the finals, to be held in August.

Since the launch of the competition, companies have joined the race to develop the technology. The main runners include Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Hyperloop One.

Hyperloop Early designs for Hyperloop Credit: Space X

Where will the first tracks be built?

There are tests already underway in Nevada from Hyperloop One, which built a 500m test track to launch its first pod. But the first Hyperloop may not be built in the US, as initial routes first suggested by Musk from Los Angeles to San Francisco have failed to take off.

Much of the demand for Hyperloop development and testing has come from outside of the US. The Netherlands and Finland in Europe have expressed interest as becoming the next locations for testing tracks by Hyperloop One. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also in the mix, as Dubai's DP World group is a major investor in the technology.

Other proposed routes include a Hyperloop that would cut the time from London to Edinburgh to 50 minutes, while other speculated routes include several US Hyperloops and an Indian track.

Hyperloop UK route

One of three proposed routes for a hyperloop in the UK Credit: Hyperloop One

Some other proposed routes are:

Hyperloop One

Estonia-Finland, 56 miles

Vienna-Budapest, 150 miles

The Netherlands, 266 miles

Corsica-Sardinia, 280 miles

Helsinki-Stockholm, 300 miles

Liverpool-Glasgow, 339 miles

Spain-Morocco, 391 miles

London-Edinburgh, 414 miles

Poland, 415 miles

Cardiff-Glasgow, 657 miles

Germany round trip, 1,237 miles

Five proposed routes in India

11 other proposed routes in the US

Hyperloop Transport Technologies

Brno-Bratislava, 80 miles

Abu Dhabi-Al Ain, 107 miles

SpaceX/Elon Musk

San Francisco-Los Angeles, 380 miles

How much will it cost?

One of the main points stressed by Hyperloop converts is the potential cost saving of the technology. Compared to high-speed rail travel, Hyperloops potentially need far less ground space to construct their tunnels and far less energy to transport the pods than conventional trains.

Musk projected that his proposed Los Angeles route would cost around $6bn, or $11.5m per mile, compared to $68bn for a high-speed rail link. However, leaked documents from Hyperloop One suggested even a shorter 107-mile loop in California would still cost up to $13bn, or $121m per mile.

Will Hyperloop actually happen?

While the project may seem far-fetched, ventures backed by Musk have gone surprisingly well so far. Plenty of people back the theory behind Hyperloop, which has support from several governments and funding from transport behemoth General Electric and French rail giant SNCF, but the potential cost and feasibility of the technology are still to be tested.

In 2017, Hyperloop One began some of its first tests on the new technology, firing its pod down a 500m test track in Nevada which saw the module reach 70mph in 5.3 seconds.

The company's lofty ambitions include having three functioning Hyperloop systems in service by 2021. If the developers can keep to their schedule the first Hyperloop could be ready sooner than you think.