Varsha PandeyAre you wondering what is a hyperloop? what is the use of this technology and how it will help us in our daily life?
Travel on the land without touching the ground. Inside a steel tube, an elegant capsule, like a first-class cabin, levitates and accelerates so that we move at almost 1,000 kilometers per hour.
This is the Hyperloop, the futuristic method of transport launched by the controversial Elon Musk. The concept is a century old. It is expected to be functional by 2030.
But in West Virginia, the United States, they work so that the future arrives earlier than expected. Fasten your seat belts!
The Hyperloop is the concept of a high-speed transport system that SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk presented in 2013.
He has presented it as a faster, cheaper, and greener alternative to currently available transportation options. You would do this by removing friction and air resistance from the equation.
The Hyperloop combines the idea of a magnetic levitation train with a vacuum tunnel. The structure should achieve travel speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per hour.
Musk imagines the whole thing as a means of passenger transport, but larger variants could also be used to transport goods.
In 2013 the plans were made available to the general public. Since then, several companies and research groups have emerged that deal with the implementation of the idea.
These companies want to implement the transport concept
Virgin Hyperloop One
Virgin Hyperloop One, a Los Angeles, California-based company, announced its plan to build a $ 500 million certification center to advance its vision for the future of ultra-fast transportation in West Virginia.
This is one of the companies that want to bring the transport concept to market. It is also the first to build a scale Hyperloop test track.
The company has contacts with several governments regarding the construction of Hyperloop routes.
On November 8, 2020, Virgin Hyperloop conducted the first tests of its ultra-fast transportation system. They successfully passed at the DevLoop test site in the US state of Nevada, where a 500-meter-long vacuum tunnel was built.
The company expects construction work to begin in 2021.
In principle, ten potential routes have been chosen from among the 2,600 projects presented to the Hyperloop One work teams. Four routes are in the United States, two in India, two in the United Kingdom, one in Mexico, and the other in Canada.
The 10 routes would link 53 urban centers and serve a population of 150 million people. In total, it would travel more than 6,500 kilometers, in distances that will be covered in minutes. For example, one of the routes in India, the longest of all, would link Chennai and Bombay.
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT)
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) announced in 2018 that it would build the first Hyperloop test track in Europe.
TransPod
The Canadian company TransPod also wants to set up a test track in Europe. Half of the original scale is to be built in France.
Hardt Global Mobility
Hardt Global Mobility, a Dutch company is also working on a test track.
It is a Delft based company founded in 2016. The company raised around €600,000 funds and also looking for more funds to set up a high-speed test line.
Zeleros
Zeleros there is another European company that is working on the Hyperloop system. The company comes from Spain and emerged from a Hyperloop research project at the University of Valencia.
DGWHyperloop
DGWHyperloop is the only Indian company working on the concept. It has long-term plans to build a Hyperloop route between Delhi and Mumbai.
Hyper Chariot LLC
The Hyper Chariot company is particularly ambitious. Not only do they want to use larger vehicles than the competition, but they also want to be faster.
Criticism of the concept
Some critics complain that it can hardly be pleasant for the passenger to be shot through a tube at an extremely high speed.
Despite exciting claims from Virgin Hyperloop One or other companies like Tesla, the safety of this ultra-fast theoretical train has been questioned.
Many wonders if current regulations would be enough to ensure that passengers are protected.
The cost of building the required infrastructure has also come under scrutiny. One kilometer of pipe costs approximately $ 6 million.
Not all experts are convinced of the concept in terms of security either. Other critics doubt that the Hyperloop system really makes sense from an economic and energy point of view.