Hyperloop Testing Starts Next Year

neanderslob writes: In 2013, Elon Musk told us about a theoretical transportation system he'd been thinking about for a while. It was called "hyperloop," and it was a tube-based system capable of sending people and things at speeds of up to 800mph. Now, a company called Hyperloop Transportation Technologies plans to start construction on an actual hyperloop next year. The idea is to build it to serve Quay Valley (a proposed 75,000-resident solar power city in Kings County, California). The project will be paid for with $100 million the company expects to raise through a direct public offering in the third quarter of this year. The track itself will be a 5-mile loop and won't reach anywhere close to the 800mph Musk proposed in his white paper — but it's a start.

Comments

Re:Headline/summary discord

[Applehu Akbar]

Have we decided whether it will be blue or gold?

This will put Quay Valley on the Map

[Zugla]

Just like North Haverbrook, Ogdenville, and Brockway.

Re:It's almost like the Concord verses the 747 aga

[Eloking]

Well at first, Hyperloop is aimed as a competitor to "regional airlines" and high-speed train. But if the Hyperloop is as cheap than what Elon Musk is thinking (about 1000% cheaper than HST), we can seriously consider coast-to-coast as a possibility.

Re:It's almost like the Concord verses the 747 aga

[nukenerd]

I the cost of California High-Speed Rail, it's actually $68.4 billion for a the things as of 2011 estimate

As far as I can make out, the Hyperloop is a High Speed Railway inside a tube that structurally can take a vacuum. Plus things like airlocks to get in and out, and some very clever safety measures to allow people to escape in an emergency.

Yes, that has got to be cheaper than just a High Speed Railway, hasn't it?