Hyperloop

[1] The concept behind the Hyperloop originated in the late 17th century with the invention of the world's first artificial vacuum, which led to designs for underground rapid transit systems powered by pneumatics in the decades that followed.

In 1799, inventor George Medhurst proposed the idea to move goods through cast-iron pipes using air pressure and in 1844 built a railway station (for passenger carriages) in London that relied on pneumatics until 1847.

[2][3] In 2013, entrepreneur Elon Musk published a white paper, where the hyperloop was described as a transportation system using capsules supported by an air-bearing surface within a low-pressure tube.

The pod is a coach at atmospheric pressure that experiences low air resistance or friction inside the tube[6][7] using magnetic propulsion (in the initial design, augmented by a ducted fan).

[8] Musk released details of an alpha-version in a white paper on 22 August 2013, in which the hyperloop design incorporated reduced-pressure tubes with pressurized capsules riding on air bearings driven by linear induction motors and axial compressors.

[9] The white paper showed an example hyperloop route running from the Los Angeles region to the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly following the Interstate 5 corridor.

[13] A Technical University of Munich hyperloop set a speed record of 463 km/h (288 mph) in July 2019[14][15] at the pod design competition hosted by SpaceX in Hawthorne, California.

[17] Swisspod Technologies unveiled a 1:12 scale testing facility in a circular shape to simulate an "infinite" hyperloop trajectory in July 2021 on the EPFL campus at Lausanne, Switzerland.

[20] Musk first mentioned that he was thinking about a concept for a "fifth mode of transport", calling it the Hyperloop, in July 2012 at a Pando Daily event in Santa Monica, California.

This hypothetical high-speed mode of transportation would have the following characteristics: immunity to weather, collision free, twice the speed of a plane, low power consumption, and energy storage for 24-hour operations.

[39] The hyperloop alpha concept envisioned operation by sending specially designed "capsules" or "pods" through a steel tube maintained at a partial vacuum.

[citation needed] Several routes have been proposed that meet the distance conditions for which a hyperloop is hypothesized to provide improved transport times: under approximately 1,500 kilometres (930 miles).

That conceptual system would begin around Sylmar, just south of the Tejon Pass, follow Interstate 5 to the north, and arrive near Hayward on the east side of San Francisco Bay.

[4] No work has been done on the route proposed in Musk's design; one cited reason is that it would terminate on the fringes of two major metropolitan areas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

This would result in significant cost savings in construction, but require passengers traveling to and from Downtown Los Angeles and San Francisco, and any other community beyond Sylmar and Hayward, to transfer to another transportation mode to reach their destination.

Some transportation engineers argued in 2013 that they found the alpha-level design cost estimates unrealistically low given the scale of construction and reliance on unproven technology.

[52][full citation needed] Hyperloop Transportation Technologies were considering in 2016 with the Indian Government for a proposed route between Chennai and Bengaluru, with a conceptual travel time of 345 km (214 mi) in 30 minutes.

[57][needs update] A worldwide, college-level hyperloop competition is scheduled to take place in India in February 2025 at the Discovery Campus of Thaiyur, IIT Madras.

[59] The study will serve as a blueprint for future hyperloop projects and build on the developers long-standing relationship with the kingdom, which has peaked when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman viewed VHO's passenger pod during a visit to the United States.

[59][needs update] In December 2021, the Veneto Regional Council approved a memorandum of understanding with MIMS and CAV for the testing of hyper transfer technology.

[67][68][needs update] In 2016, Hyperloop One published the world's first detailed business case for a 300-mile (500 km) route between Helsinki and Stockholm, which would tunnel under the Baltic Sea to connect the two capitals in under 30 minutes.

[79] Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) signed an agreement with the government of Slovakia in March 2016 to perform impact studies, with potential links between Bratislava, Vienna, and Budapest, but there have been no further developments.

[93] In January 2015, a paper based on the NASA OpenMDAO open-source model reiterated the need for a larger diameter tube and a reduced cruise speed closer to Mach 0.85.

YouTube creator Adam Kovacs has described Hyperloop as a kind of gadgetbahn because it would be an expensive, unproven system that is no better than existing technologies such as traditional high-speed rail.

UC Berkeley physics professor Richard Muller has also expressed concern regarding "[the Hyperloop's] novelty and the vulnerability of its tubes, [which] would be a tempting target for terrorists", and that the system could be disrupted by everyday dirt and grime.

[41] In criticizing this assumption, mass transportation writer Alon Levy said, "In reality, an all-elevated system (which is what Musk proposes with the Hyperloop) is a bug rather than a feature.

[11] Projected low ticket prices by Hyperloop developers have been questioned by Dan Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at University of California Davis, who stated that "there's no way the economics on that would ever work out.

"[11] Some critics have argued that, since Hyperloop is designed to carry fewer passengers than typical public train systems, it could make it difficult to price tickets to cover the costs of construction and running.

[137] In a study done by the TU Delft researchers claim that the fares would have to be higher than €0.30 per passenger kilometer, compared to €0.174/p-km for high speed rail and €0.183/p-km for air travel.

That means constructing miles-long systems of tubes and stations, acquiring rights of way, adhering to government regulations and standards, and avoiding changes to the ecology along its routes.