More than a decade after Elon Musk first introduced the idea of the hyperloop, it is still one of the most talked-about — and least proven – transportation technologies today. The concept involves the use of magnetic pods traveling in low-pressure tubes at incredible speeds, capable of connecting cities in minutes instead of hours. Proponents of the technology claim it could ease congestion, cut carbon emissions and radically transform regional transportation in the United States and abroad.
Despite its promise, hyperloop systems have yet to leave the testing grounds. Even after numerous pilot projects and continued investor interest, there is no commercial hyperloop system in operation, and there remains significant regulatory and engineering challenges before a major breakthrough moment can occur.
Hyperloop Explained
A hyperloop consists of sleek metal pods that hurtle through low-pressure, windowless vacuum tubes with the help of magnetic levitation and electromagnetic propulsion. Hyperloops are planned to connect cities like Chicago and Cleveland together through a series of stations and routes (similar to how trains operate, but much faster).
In the U.S., hyperloop proponents are making efforts to bring about that regulation sooner than later. But until that happens, commercially viable systems aren’t possible and companies are left to make hypothetical cases for why the technology is worth backing.
How Does Hyperloop Work?
If you’re wondering how hyperloops are supposed to work, here’s the nutshell version: Sleek metal pods hurtle through low-pressure, windowless vacuum tubes with the help of magnetic levitation and electromagnetic propulsion. Proponents theorize that these systems can potentially exceed 500 mph and top out around 670. (By comparison, a Boeing 747 cruises at 540 mph). And the ride — whether elevated or subterranean — will reportedly be much smoother, according to a Virgin Hyperloop One engineer.
“You’ll feel 30 to 40 percent of the acceleration compared to an airplane,” he said, and “coffee won’t slide” even at the highest velocity. But it’s hard to truly know just yet — so far the fastest hyperloop pods have reached speeds 288 mph.
Rather than serving as cross-country transportation, hyperloops will most likely connect cities in the same region. There already are efforts to link Midwest hubs like Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cleveland and Chicago, and the ability to access those places more quickly could allow people to live and work hundreds of miles apart without worrying about a long commute.
Hyperloop vs. High-Speed Rails
While hyperloop systems may theoretically rival airplanes, high-speed rails (HSR) remain its main competition. Although they are not common in the U.S. HSRs are popular in China, France, Japan and Spain and can move at speeds of 217 miles per hour. They operate using conventional wheel and rail technology, and they are able to achieve high-speed through aerodynamic designs and a tilting mechanism for maintaining speeds on curved tracks.
Despite the theoretical speed advantages of hyperloops, HSR systems remain more practical in several areas, according to Deploy Recruit. HSRs have better energy efficiency, use proven technology, and have fewer regulatory and infrastructure challenges, as they have been operational for several decades.
A Brief History of Hyperloops
Modern hyperloops were the brainchild of tech titan Elon Musk, who detailed his theoretical invention in a 2013 white paper. His company the Boring Company, which built the Vegas Loop, has already experimented with tunneling technology that could potentially be used to build a hyperloop in the future.
“The Hyperloop (or something similar) is, in my opinion, the right solution for the specific case of high traffic city pairs that are less than about 1500 km or 900 miles apart,” Musk wrote. “Around that inflection point, I suspect that supersonic air travel ends up being faster and cheaper… [But] for a sub several hundred mile journey, having a supersonic plane is rather pointless, as you would spend almost all your time slowly ascending and descending and very little time at cruise speed… Short of figuring out real teleportation, which would of course be awesome (someone please do this), the only option for super fast travel is to build a tube over or under the ground that contains a special environment.”
Meanwhile, pressurized tubes have been around for several decades. They were used to cart passengers beneath London in the 1860s — though not at high speeds — and New York’s Broadway in the early 1870s. The Rand Corporation even came up with the notion of a tunnel-based, electromagnetic wave-driven “Very High-Speed Transit” system in the early 1970s.
And so-called “maglev” trains, which function via magnetic attraction and repulsion, have been around as a concept for more than a century and in operation since the mid-1980s. Currently the world’s fastest train, the Shanghai Maglev in China, can achieve speeds of up to 267 mph and has ferried passengers from the city’s Pudong International Airport to a metro station 19 miles away since 2004.
Where Is Hyperloop Being Tested?
While the hyperloop remains a futuristic concept, a number of companies around the world have moved from white papers to test tracks. These projects range from small prototypes to full-size passenger pods and are taking place in deserts, labs and underground tunnels. Although none have achieved commercial readiness, they offer a glimpse into what a hyperloop might actually look like one day.
In the U.S., test efforts have largely been driven by Virgin Hyperloop, The Boring Company and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (also known as HyperloopTT). They operate facilities and test sites in multiple states. Overseas, countries like China, the Netherlands and Germany have begun building out research centers and demonstration sites to explore hyperloop’s real-world viability.
Virgin Hyperloop
To date, Los Angeles-based Virgin Hyperloop One, has garnered nearly half a billion dollars in venture capital. It currently has projects under consideration or underway in Nevada, Missouri, Texas, North Carolina, India, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Its Las Vegas test site consists of a 500 meter test track used for research and development for uncrewed human trials.
The Boring Company
Musk’s Boring Company had proposed building a hyperloop track between L.A. and California’s Bay Area in 2013 but has yet to break ground on the project. Since then, the company completed a test track in Bastrop, Texas to experiment with the vacuum pump systems needed to propel pods at high speeds.
HyperloopTT
HyperloopTT, is focused on passenger transport. The company has a 320 meter prototype capsule in France and is working toward constructing a fully functional three-mile-long commercial passenger line in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Additionally it has a commercial prototype in Veneto, Italy and is conducting feasibility studies in São Paulo and the Midwest.
Hyperloop’s Potential Benefits
A big selling point of hyperloops is their purported environmental friendliness. They could, for instance, be at least partly self-powered by solar energy instead of gobbling up fossil fuels — though at this point there’s no clear research to indicate if or to what degree that’s feasible. And they could potentially eliminate a lot of driving for commuters as well as freight haulers, which would ease fuel consumption and reduce pollution.
In addition to feeding off the sun, said Rob Miller, chief marketing officer for HyperloopTT, “you’ll potentially collect wind energy. And you get some [energy] back through kinetic and regenerative braking.” The pylons that support a hyperloop track, he added, could even double as power stations for recharging cars and providing other services. In short, he believes, nature wins and so do people.
From a humanitarian standpoint, hyperloops could come to the rescue during natural disasters by serving as a transportational backup system, according to Pring-Mill, , communications director for the nonprofit Hyperloop Advanced Research Project. If a bridge is damaged, for example, or there’s congestion on the highways, hyperloops could speedily deliver disaster relief supplies and personnel to affected areas.
Like so much else about hyperloops, though, all of that is merely speculative.
Hyperloop Challenges
Despite their promise of fast, eco-friendly travel, hyperloops face several challenges.
High Costs
Whether they’re developed by Virgin Hyperloop or any other company in North America and abroad, the biggest barrier for hyperloops will likely be costs. In 2018, Vox reported that Musk’s proposed 107-mile Bay area hyperloop project would cost between $84 million and $121 million per mile. Meanwhile other companies have estimated that their project could cost between $50 and $60 million a mile.
While a hyperloop's price tag is hefty, so too are those of traditional mass transit projects. For example, the ongoing Long Island Rail Road project has skyrocketed to $3.5 billion per mile. Yet these systems offer a crucial advantage in that they are more feasible. Mass transit technologies have decades of proven reliability, established safety standards and well-understood infrastructure requirements, making them easier to plan, fund and build. In contrast, hyperloops remain largely theoretical, with many lingering engineering challenges like maintaining vacuum pressure over long distances.
“The cost per mile will vary [by] project,” said Sarah Lawson, Virgin Hyperloop’s marketing product manager. “This is exactly what feasibility studies are for — to model the ridership, demand, alignment, etc. for a specific route that will inform the cost to construct the system.”
Regulatory Hurdles
One of the other biggest sticking points is the lack of a regulatory framework. According to Kristen Hammer, a business development manager for Los Angeles-based Virgin Hyperloop One, a large part of establishing a hyperloop will involve educating local governments and transportation agencies about such systems. Without a clear understanding officials cannot draft any regulations.
“[Officials] can’t give us intelligent regulation if they don’t know how the system works and what the moving parts are,” she said.
To help with this issue, hyperloop companies are working with the U.S. Department of Transportation Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology (NETT) Council, a federal body to streamline communication between developers and regulators. Abroad, HyperloopTT submitted a 600-page regulatory framework to the European Commission, which is responsible for various legislation overseas.
Right-of-way is another obstacle in the way. While overseas governments can more easily secure land through eminent domain, the process in the U.S. is fraught with legal delays and public resistance. In some U.S. states, developers are considering routing hyperloops through the median strips of existing interstates — where public right-of-ways already exist — but that’s only feasible for routes that are relatively straight. At 600 mph, even minor curves could present serious risks.
Safety Concerns
Political and regulatory issues aren’t the only speed humps slowing hyperloop adoption. A number of safety issues must be addressed too. Eureka Magazine once described these challenges as “impossible engineering” and highlighted thermal expansion of steel tubes under direct sunlight, the structural integrity of large pressurized systems and ability to evacuate passengers in an emergency as major areas of concern.
For their part, Virgin Hyperloop says it uses thick, puncture-resistant steel and built-in safety features like emergency exits, sensors to detect leaks and the ability for pods to coast safely to the nearest station. HyperloopTT’s head of engineering, Chris Bobko, also states that engineers are using proven solutions like expansion bellows and standard pipe design methods to handle structural and temperature variation.
When Will Hyperloop Be Ready?
While several companies are working on tests and proof of concepts for hyperloop technology, the concept is still in early stages, and it is unclear if and when a functional system will be completed. Engineering, regulator and financial hurdles continue to delay meaningful progress, making commercial deployment more of a long-term aspiration than a foreseeable reality.
Grace Gallucci, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) in Cleveland, Ohio, is working with HyperloopTT to bring hyperloop travel to the midwest region. She said that while the Midwest might have a “functional pilot” in seven to 10 years, it will be another 25 years before we see a nationwide network.
“I think [hyperloop travel] is really promising,” Gallucci said, “but we would all be foolish if we thought you could take technology of this magnitude and this scale, develop it today and implement it tomorrow. There’s so much that could still prevent it from happening, or allow it to emerge as an even more transformational form of transportation.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hyperloop and when will it be ready?
Hyperloop is a proposed high-speed transportation system where pods travel through low-pressure using magnetic elevation. Multiple companies are testing prototypes, but commercial deployment is still decades away.
How fast can hyperloop go?
In theory, hyperloops could reach speeds of 600-700 miles per hour; however, current test models have only achieved 288 mph.
Is hyperloop safe for humans?
It is unclear how safe hyperloops are, as no human has ever ridden a hyperloop prototype. However, many of the companies developing these systems are taking steps to ensure safety, which will be essential for mass transit.
Is the hyperloop still being built?
Yes several companies are continuing research and prototype tests for hyperloops, but there is no commercial system currently under condition or operation.
