Hyperloop capsule is ready for test in France
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) has delivered passenger capsule to its French technology centre in Toulouse. The device will be tested on the one-kilometre tube line that is under construction now.
The 32-metre Hyperloop capsule was manufactured of carbon fibres and aluminium widely used by aerospace engineers. The device was assembled in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain. The entire manufacturing process from development to final assembly took 30,000 hours. The Hyperloop capsule weighs 5.5 tonnes and is capable of carrying 28-40 passengers.
“The future is one step closer. After a three-day, 1,500 km journey beginning in Southern Spain, the Hyperloop passenger capsule has successfully arrived at HyperloopTT ‘s test facility in Toulouse. Now the final tests are underway for HyperloopTT,” the company reported.
Commercial use
The US-based HyperloopTT chose several locations to implement its technology. Initially, the company intended to test the tube train. However, the HyperloopTT’s managers debate the probable date to launch the regular tube services. “The commercial lines we expect to have done in approximately three years”, the company’s co-founder and CEO Dirk Ahlborn told CNBC. He noted that the first regular tube line will be opened in the United Arab Emirates.
HyperloopTT has several rivals that also try to construct the tube lines. The US-based company Virgin Hyperloop One owned by Richard Branson plans to launch a Hyperloop train in Spain in 2020. Last year, the Boring Company of Elon Musk constructed the underground tunnel in Los Angeles to test the Hyperloop technology. Canadian firm TransPod, like HyperloopTT, also chose France for tube trial journeys scheduled to start this year. Swiss research organisation EuroTube announced to open the first European Hyperloop track in canton Valais.
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