{"id":111023,"date":"2020-11-12T13:47:45","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T10:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/hyperloop-is-just-an-expensive-train-in-a-tube-whys-everyone-so-excited\/"},"modified":"2020-11-12T13:47:45","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T10:47:45","slug":"hyperloop-is-just-an-expensive-train-in-a-tube-whys-everyone-so-excited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/hyperloop-is-just-an-expensive-train-in-a-tube-whys-everyone-so-excited\/","title":{"rendered":"#Hyperloop is just an expensive train in a tube \u2014 why\u2019s everyone so excited?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Hyperloop is just an expensive train in a tube \u2014 why\u2019s everyone so excited?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Earlier this week, everyone was banging on about<\/a> Virgin Hyperloop, the train in a tube that\u2019ll supposedly be able to hit speeds of 1,000 kph (620 mph) when it\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n

More specifically, everyone seemed pretty pumped that it had managed to perform its first test run with two real-life human passengers. But I\u2019d like to step back for a moment, and ask us to take a big reality check before we consider just how notable a milestone this is.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s put it into context.<\/p>\n

This Virgin Hyperloop test hit a top speed of just 48.07 meters\u00a0 per second, that\u2019s 107 mph and it travel<\/a>ed 395 meters. In this day and age, that\u2019s not really far or fast.<\/p>\n

[Read: New right-to-repair bill foils Tesla\u2019s monopoly over its vehicle data]<\/em><\/p>\n

Hyperloop is effectively a magnetic levitation (maglev) train in a vacuum tube. As its name suggests, maglev technology<\/a> suspends trains in concrete tracks using electromagnets so it\u2019s floating on air. Magnets are also used to propel the train forward by exploiting the fact that North and South poles repel each other.
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xKvbSboQ5_g<\/a>
\nMaglev trains are already some of the fastest trains in the world, and can hit speeds in excess of 370 mph. A Japanese made maglev train managed to hit a record-breaking 370 mph for just over 10 seconds<\/a> back in 2016.<\/p>\n

Maglev trains aren\u2019t exactly new technology, either. They\u2019ve been travelling at crazy speeds for decades. In the late 1970s maglev trains were hitting speeds<\/a> comfortably above 300 mph and were doing it with the capability of carrying hundreds of passengers, not two.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, unless passenger pods can seat hundreds at a time, Hyperloop won\u2019t be accessible to the masses and it won\u2019t be cheap. That turned out real well for Concorde didn\u2019t it?<\/a><\/p>\n

Estimates have suggested that building a Hyperloop-like system between LA and San Francisco (about 400 miles) will cost in excess of $7 billion to build<\/a>. That sounds like a fairly conservative estimate given that the Eurostar line from London to Paris (about 300 miles) cost around $5 billion \u2014 which was 80% more than expected, let\u2019s hope Hyperloop isn\u2019t foul of the same miscalculation. Crittics of Hyperloop suggest it\u2019ll cost closer to $100 billion.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Wikimedia<\/a> – CC<\/figcaption>
<\/a>A Japanese maglev train.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hyperloop seems to be a really expensive and convoluted way of just making maglev trains faster. But it\u2019s not speed that we need, it\u2019s accessibility.<\/p>\n

Sure, Virgin Hyperloop is promising some really remarkable things. An on-demand transport service that connects the world\u2019s cities, that could help people travel from London to Lisbon faster than a plane with less environmental impact. I am all for this.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s hellbent on achieving high speeds rather than accessibility and providing a transport tool for the masses.<\/p>\n

The success of such systems also hinges massively on governments around the world collaborating to build massive intercontinental loop networks. There\u2019s no guarantee they will.<\/p>\n

We have services like the Eurostar, which can hit speeds of 186 mph, that will get you from Amsterdam to London in a few hours without stopping. With maglev technology we could make that journey faster and more comfortable. It\u2019s a comparatively safer bet than Hyperloop.<\/p>\n

With unity, collaboration, and open-borders we could lay connections between the world\u2019s cities with existing technology quite easily.<\/p>\n

More importantly, it would be a system that a sizeable portion of society could afford. One that would have an undeniably more positive impact on the world than a fancy vacuum train in a tube that only a few rich people will be likely to afford.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s a matter of perspective, but I\u2019m just not as impressed by Hyperloop as everyone else seems to be.<\/p>\n

Long live maglev.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

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\n Published November 12, 2020 \u2014 10:47 UTC\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n