The Hyperloop: A New Era in Transportation

Imagine traveling at speeds of up to 670 miles per hour, reaching destinations in just over half an hour. The concept of the hyperloop has been around for several years, but it wasn't until Virgin Hyperloop One began testing its technology that we saw a tangible example of what this futuristic transportation system could look like.

The Dev Loop: A Full-Scale Prototype

Virgin Hyperloop One built a full-scale prototype called the Dev Loop, which is 500 meters long and over a quarter of a mile. This was the perfect place to test whether the hyperloop technology actually worked. The entire track runs for 500 meters, and the idea is that you'd depressurize it, create a little airlock, and then zoom down to your destination. The Dev Loop is a fraction of the size of what a final hyperloop would be, but it's the perfect place to test whether the technology actually works.

Inside the Hyperloop Tunnel

It was pretty cool to be inside the hyperloop tunnel. The entire track runs for 500 meters and the idea is that you'd depressurize it, create a little airlock, where people would board inside a pod and then once the whole thing was depressurized you could zoom down to your destination. I like the idea of traveling at such high speeds to get where I need to go. It takes about three and a half hours to pump the air out of this 500 meter Dev Loop but to bring it back in takes just two minutes, thanks to emergency vent valves built along the length of the tube.

The Idea Behind the Hyperloop

The idea isn't to pump the air in and out every time; the hyperloop would have long sealed off stretches kept at low pressure these sections would be separated by airlocks where passengers could board. Once passengers have boarded their pod in the airlock, the air could be pumped out of that small section a gate would release, and the pod can start its journey. In 2017, Virgin tested its first experimental vehicle inside the Dev Loop, XP-1. The goal was to make sure the system actually worked and the pod could reach high speeds in the near vacuum environment.

Next Up: XP2

The next step up was XP2, a two-person pod that transported its first human passengers in November 2020, reaching speeds of 107 miles per hour. While XP2 only carried four passengers on two trips, it's a step in the right direction towards scaling up eventually, Virgin wants to create pods that can carry up to 28 passengers, all traveling at airline speeds but without the risk of turbulence from a passenger experience standpoint.

The Concept is Not New

However, the concept of the hyperloop isn't new. Back in 2013, Elon Musk outlined his vision for the hyperloop, Alpha Musk envisioned pods departing every two minutes traveling up to 760 miles an hour making the trip from LA to San Francisco in just over half an hour. Virgin has made some changes from that early concept, opting for maglev instead of Musk's original plan which had the pods moving on cushions of air like pucks on an air hockey table.

Why Hyperloop and Not High-Speed Rail?

So, why hyperloop and not invest in high-speed rail instead of building a whole new transport system from scratch? Virgin says the hyperloop will be three times faster than high-speed rail and more efficient thanks to the sealed off tubes. There are no weather delays and because the technology for the system is on the pod it's easy to upgrade the hyperloop with new and better vehicles over time.

Flexible On-Demand Transport

The system is designed for flexible on-demand transport, the pods travel in convoys but they're not physically connected so passengers can start and finish their journey at different stops. The goal isn't just single stretches of tube for point-to-point travel; Virgin wants full hyperloop networks moving 50,000 passengers an hour hundreds of miles of hyperloop connecting the world and changing the way we think about travel.

The Future of Travel

You look at the choices you have from traveling say from Los Angeles to here to Las Vegas and you look at I can either drive my car and I know it's going to take me anywhere between four to seven hours or I can fly and go through the airports on all these things or I can just hop on a hyperloop and be there in 40 minutes. The choice becomes very apparent.

Private Investment Key

For now, Virgin Hyperloop One is gaining some momentum in the US with the recent inclusion of hyperloop technology in the federal infrastructure bill. However, the real key will be private investment. All those tubes and high-tech pods need money to get off the ground for now. Virgin has its 500-meter Dev Loop, a chance to experience a fast future, a little over a quarter of a mile at a time.

Virgin's Vision

The vision is still years away, but it's gaining momentum. The real question is how will this technology change the way we think about transportation in the future? Will we see a new era of high-speed travel? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: Virgin Hyperloop One is leading the charge in revolutionizing the way we move around our world.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the virgin hyperloop a futuristic transport system where passengers travel through airless tubes in high-tech levitating pods virgin wants to connect countries all across the world with these hyperloops offering airline speeds without leaving the ground here's a riddle for you your best friend just scored tickets to celine dion in las vegas but the show starts in an hour and you're in la how do you get there well you just get into your travel pod zoom off at 670 miles per hour and you make the trip in 40 minutes you could do all that with the virgin hyperloop i'm gonna see how it works the hyperloop is made up of individual pods that travel through a near vacuum tube powered by magnetic levitation with maglev transport there are no wheels on tracks instead high-powered magnets repel each other moving the vehicle while it floats off the track virgin uses a proprietary levitation system but the tech is essentially the same arrays of electromagnets propel the pods and guide them through the hyperloop tube but the tube is also more than just a plain old tunnel huge pumps remove 99.9 of the air inside the hyperloop tube meaning there's virtually no drag on the pods as they travel that combination the airless environment in the tube and the high-powered maglev propulsion means the pods can reach speeds of up to 670 miles or more than a thousand kilometers an hour here in the nevada desert just outside las vegas virgin has built a full-scale prototype hyperloop called the dev loop at 500 meters long or a bit over a quarter of a mile it's a fraction of the size of what a final hyperloop would be but it's the perfect place to test whether the technology actually works all right so they've actually let me inside the hyperloop tunnel and it is pretty cool to be in here so this entire track runs for 500 meters and the idea is that you'd depressurize it you'd create a little airlock here where people would board inside a pod and then once the whole thing was depressurized you could zoom down to your destination i like the idea of traveling at 670 miles per hour to get where i need to go it takes about three and a half hours to pump the air out of this 500 meter dev loop but to bring it back in takes just two minutes thanks to emergency vent valves built along the length of the tube but the idea isn't to pump the air in and out every time the hyperloop would have long sealed off stretches kept at low pressure these sections would be separated by airlocks where passengers could board once passengers have boarded their pot in the airlock the air could be pumped out of that small section a gate would release and the pod can start its journey in 2017 virgin tested its first experimental vehicle inside the dev loop xp-1 the goal was to make sure the system actually worked and the pod could reach high speeds in the near vacuum environment next came xp2 a two-person pod that transported its first human passengers in november 2020 reaching speeds of 107 miles per hour while xp2 only carried four passengers on two trips the goal is to scale up eventually virgin wants to create pods that can carry up to 28 passengers all traveling at airline speeds but without the risk of turbulence from a passenger experience standpoint with the levitation system there's no contact with with the track so you're essentially just floating over the track it's a much smoother ride the concept of the hyperloop isn't new back in 2013 tesla ceo elon musk outlined his vision for the hyperloop alpha musk envisaged pods departing every two minutes traveling up to 760 miles an hour making the trip from la to san francisco in just over half an hour virgin has made some changes from that early concept opting for maglev instead of musk's original plan which had the pods moving on cushions of air like pucks on an air hockey table but even with those changes the devloop starts to deliver on a concept that once only existed on paper of course the big question is why hyperloop why not invest in high-speed rail instead of building a whole new transport system from scratch virgin says the hyperloop will be three times faster than high speed rail and more efficient thanks to the sealed off tubes there are no weather delays and because the technology for the system is on the pod it's easy to upgrade the hyperloop with new and better vehicles over time virgin also says the system is designed for flexible on-demand transport the pods travel in convoys but they're not physically connected so passengers can start and finish their journey at different stops and the goal not just single stretches of tube for point-to-point travel virgin wants full hyperloop networks moving 50 000 passengers an hour hundreds of miles of hyperloop connecting the world and changing the way we think about travel the way we think about where we live where we work the way we think about the distances will be very different and you look at the choices you have from traveling say from los angeles to here to las vegas and you look at i can either you know drive my car and i know it's going to take me anywhere between four to seven hours or i can fly and go through the airports and on all these things or i can just hop on a hyperloop and be there in 40 minutes i mean the choice becomes very apparent of course that vision is still years away virgin wants to begin commercial operations by 2027 and it's gaining some momentum in the u.s hyperloop technology was included in the recent federal infrastructure bill and the company's trying to expand internationally pitching projects in india and the united arab emirates but virgin isn't just chasing government support the real key will be private investment all those tubes and high-tech pods need money to get off the ground for now virgin has its 500 metre dev loop a chance to experience a fast future a little over a quarter of a mile at a timethis is the virgin hyperloop a futuristic transport system where passengers travel through airless tubes in high-tech levitating pods virgin wants to connect countries all across the world with these hyperloops offering airline speeds without leaving the ground here's a riddle for you your best friend just scored tickets to celine dion in las vegas but the show starts in an hour and you're in la how do you get there well you just get into your travel pod zoom off at 670 miles per hour and you make the trip in 40 minutes you could do all that with the virgin hyperloop i'm gonna see how it works the hyperloop is made up of individual pods that travel through a near vacuum tube powered by magnetic levitation with maglev transport there are no wheels on tracks instead high-powered magnets repel each other moving the vehicle while it floats off the track virgin uses a proprietary levitation system but the tech is essentially the same arrays of electromagnets propel the pods and guide them through the hyperloop tube but the tube is also more than just a plain old tunnel huge pumps remove 99.9 of the air inside the hyperloop tube meaning there's virtually no drag on the pods as they travel that combination the airless environment in the tube and the high-powered maglev propulsion means the pods can reach speeds of up to 670 miles or more than a thousand kilometers an hour here in the nevada desert just outside las vegas virgin has built a full-scale prototype hyperloop called the dev loop at 500 meters long or a bit over a quarter of a mile it's a fraction of the size of what a final hyperloop would be but it's the perfect place to test whether the technology actually works all right so they've actually let me inside the hyperloop tunnel and it is pretty cool to be in here so this entire track runs for 500 meters and the idea is that you'd depressurize it you'd create a little airlock here where people would board inside a pod and then once the whole thing was depressurized you could zoom down to your destination i like the idea of traveling at 670 miles per hour to get where i need to go it takes about three and a half hours to pump the air out of this 500 meter dev loop but to bring it back in takes just two minutes thanks to emergency vent valves built along the length of the tube but the idea isn't to pump the air in and out every time the hyperloop would have long sealed off stretches kept at low pressure these sections would be separated by airlocks where passengers could board once passengers have boarded their pot in the airlock the air could be pumped out of that small section a gate would release and the pod can start its journey in 2017 virgin tested its first experimental vehicle inside the dev loop xp-1 the goal was to make sure the system actually worked and the pod could reach high speeds in the near vacuum environment next came xp2 a two-person pod that transported its first human passengers in november 2020 reaching speeds of 107 miles per hour while xp2 only carried four passengers on two trips the goal is to scale up eventually virgin wants to create pods that can carry up to 28 passengers all traveling at airline speeds but without the risk of turbulence from a passenger experience standpoint with the levitation system there's no contact with with the track so you're essentially just floating over the track it's a much smoother ride the concept of the hyperloop isn't new back in 2013 tesla ceo elon musk outlined his vision for the hyperloop alpha musk envisaged pods departing every two minutes traveling up to 760 miles an hour making the trip from la to san francisco in just over half an hour virgin has made some changes from that early concept opting for maglev instead of musk's original plan which had the pods moving on cushions of air like pucks on an air hockey table but even with those changes the devloop starts to deliver on a concept that once only existed on paper of course the big question is why hyperloop why not invest in high-speed rail instead of building a whole new transport system from scratch virgin says the hyperloop will be three times faster than high speed rail and more efficient thanks to the sealed off tubes there are no weather delays and because the technology for the system is on the pod it's easy to upgrade the hyperloop with new and better vehicles over time virgin also says the system is designed for flexible on-demand transport the pods travel in convoys but they're not physically connected so passengers can start and finish their journey at different stops and the goal not just single stretches of tube for point-to-point travel virgin wants full hyperloop networks moving 50 000 passengers an hour hundreds of miles of hyperloop connecting the world and changing the way we think about travel the way we think about where we live where we work the way we think about the distances will be very different and you look at the choices you have from traveling say from los angeles to here to las vegas and you look at i can either you know drive my car and i know it's going to take me anywhere between four to seven hours or i can fly and go through the airports and on all these things or i can just hop on a hyperloop and be there in 40 minutes i mean the choice becomes very apparent of course that vision is still years away virgin wants to begin commercial operations by 2027 and it's gaining some momentum in the u.s hyperloop technology was included in the recent federal infrastructure bill and the company's trying to expand internationally pitching projects in india and the united arab emirates but virgin isn't just chasing government support the real key will be private investment all those tubes and high-tech pods need money to get off the ground for now virgin has its 500 metre dev loop a chance to experience a fast future a little over a quarter of a mile at a time\n"