Elon Musk’s visionary status is almost confirmed, Tesla has become a successful working model whilst SpaceX, well, that depends what videos you’ve seen but the intent is clear. Now renamed Hyperloop One Musk himself described the enterprise as “a cross between Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table” after originally pioneering the idea. The basis of the project is based on a very high speed transit (VHST) originally innovated in 1972 combining a magnetic levitation train with a low pressure transit tube- although many of the original ideas have evolved. Companies are jumping at the chance to be a part of such a technology which proclaims London to Edinburgh or LA to San Francisco in less than 30 minutes!

How does it work?

Well the Hyperloop uses air bearings for pods the similar to the maglev based train in Japan which achieves speeds of 500km/h with electromagnetic levitation. This is the decisive factor that pretty much encases Hyperloop One, it is the complete exemption of friction that allows such high speeds and conceptual ideas to become a reality. Alternatively Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is considering passive magnetic levitation with magnets on the train and on the aluminum track, whereas the maglev technique needs powered tracks with copper coiling which has major cost implications. 

The tunnels of which the pods will move through will have a proportion of air removed to lower the pressure and hence less resistance against the pod, improving efficiency and of course speed. Original VHST plans proposed a vacuum though various factors have arisen to oppose the option with stations and other commodities causing a break rendering the system useless.

Hyperloop have therefore decided that intermittent air pumps will be used to lower the air pressure, the Hyperloop’s tunnels are expected to be metal as an overground system further developments such as solar panels along the top of the Hyperloop line could generate enough power for the whole system whilst running underground systems should not be too difficult with very rapid boring technology permitting direct and....continue reading

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