A quarter-mile white steel tube running alongside a railway line in the windswept northern Netherlands could usher in a new era in the transportation of people and freight. The tube is the heart of the new European Hyperloop Center that opened Tuesday and will be a proving ground in coming years for developers of the evolving technology, per the AP.
- What it is: Hyperloop, once trumpeted by Elon Musk, involves capsules floating on magnetic fields zipping at speeds of around 435 mph through low-pressure tubes. Its advocates tout it as far more efficient than short-haul flights, high-speed rail, and freight trucks. However, since Musk unveiled the concept that he said could shuttle passengers the nearly 400 miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes, it has progressed at a much slower pace from the drawing board toward the real world.
- What's next: A test capsule built by Dutch hyperloop pioneer Hardt Hyperloop will take part next month in the first tests at the center, which is funded by private investment as well as government contributions. "I expect by 2030 you will have the first hyperloop route, maybe five kilometers (three miles) in which people will actually be transporting passengers," said the center's director, Sascha Lamme. "Actually there's already preparations being done for such routes in, for example, Italy or India."