Virgin Hyperloop announces it has carried passengers for the first time during a test run of its hyperloop pod. Co-founder and CTO Josh Giegel and director of Passenger Experience Sara Luchian were the first passengers.
Virgin Hyperloop is an American company focused on commercialising the hyperloop. The company was founded in 2014 by former board chairman Shervin Pishevar, entrepreneur Brogan BamBrogan and CTO Josh Giegel as Hyperloop Technologies. This name was initially changed to Hyperloop One. After Hyperloop One and Richard Branson's Virgin Group joined forces in 2017, the name changed to Virgin Hyperloop.
First test with passengers
The test took place at a 500-metre Virgin Hyperloop test site called DevLoop in Las Vegas. The company had previously conducted over 400 tests without passengers on this route. So now passengers were allowed on the route for the first time.
"When we started in a garage six years ago, the goal was simple: to transform the way people travel," Giegel explains. "Today, we have taken a huge step towards this ultimate dream. Not just for me, but for everyone looking forward to a moonshot here on earth."
XP-2
Giegel and Luchain made their journey in an XP-2, a new vehicle developed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Kilo Design on behalf of Virgin Hyperloop. This is a prototype that can accommodate just two people. Virgin Hyperloop stresses that the final passenger pod will look very different. For instance, this model is larger and can accommodate up to 28 passengers.
"Hyperloop is about much more than the technology. It's about what makes it possible," says Luchian. "For me, the passenger experience is the thing that connects everything. And what better way to shape the future than to experience it yourself?"
Safety
Like the final production model, the XP-2 is equipped with a system that continuously monitors all kinds of readings. Are anomalies found in these readings? Then the system intervenes automatically to prevent accidents.
Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop, report being asked with great frequency whether hyperloop is safe. "With today's passenger test, we have successfully answered this question. Not only do we show that Virgin Hyperloop can safely place a person in a pod in a vacuum environment, but also that the company has a devised approach to safety that has been validated by an independent third party."
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source photo: Virgin Hyperloop
