The company Virgin Hyperloop conducted the first tests of the Hyperloop capsule with passengers on board.
During the test drive, the capsule accelerated to a speed of 172 kilometers per hour in a tunnel with a pressure a thousand times less than the atmosphere.
The Hyperloop is a new type of transport first proposed in 2013 by Elon Musk. The track consists of tunnels with pressure close to vacuum and rails, along which sealed capsules can travel with several dozen passengers.
Due to the low pressure, the capsules will experience much less aerodynamic drag than conventional trains.
It is assumed that in full-fledged commercial implementations of Hyperloop, they will move at a speed of about 1200 kilometers per hour and will compete with airplanes in travel time, rather than trains.
Several companies are developing implementations of Hyperloop. Also, SpaceX is holding a technology competition to develop technologies for this system, which set the current speed record of 463 kilometers per hour in 2019.
Virgin Hyperloop, formerly known as Hyperloop One, is one of the most active development companies in the field.
In 2017, the company built a 500-meter test track in the United States and set a time record of 386 kilometers per hour on the XP-1 capsule.
However, until recently, all races of such systems took place without people on board due to security reasons.
On November 9, Virgin Hyperloop announced that it has run the world's first vacuum track with passengers.
A new XP-2 capsule was used in the race. It has a modified hull design with recesses in the front, rear and side parts, side windows and a transparent hatch in the bow.
The company notes that it differs markedly from the final version, which will be used for permanent transportation. This capsule has only two seats for passengers, and the final will have 28.
However, apart from the size, it will not very different from a full-fledged vacuum train.
The first passenger run was attended by Virgin Hyperloop CTO Josh Giegel and Passenger Experience Director Sara Luchian.
Due to the short track length, the capsule with the two testers quickly accelerated to 172 kilometers per hour and successfully braked shortly thereafter.
The company plans to start building soon a 35 km long test track in Saudi Arabia for high-speed races. An engineering center will be located next to the highway, where development will be carried out.
The company also plans to develop such systems in the US.
Sources:
- Virgin Hyperloop: https://virginhyperloop.com/press/first-passenger-testing
- YouTube:
Thanks for the post! 172 km/hr doesn't seem all that fast, but I guess you have to go carefully when passengers are involved. It's definitely an exciting technology. It will be cool to see what happens with the track in Saudi Arabia.
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Yeah. That was my guess too. But I imagine they will incrementally speed up, this was the first test with humans involved.
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