Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA), Hamburg's port authority, wants to use the Hyperloop to transport sea containers at lightning speed to the German hinterland. The port authority is in talks about this with US company Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT).
This reports the German daily Hamburger Abendblatt on the basis of anonymous sources within HHLA. The Hyperloop is a technology in which capsules travel through a high-tech vacuum tube using magnetic fields. This offers great advantages. Because virtually a vacuum is created in the tube, air resistance is reduced to almost zero. This enables speeds of up to about 1,200 kilometres per hour.
Concept by Elon Musk
The Hyperloop is a concept from the mind of Elon Musk, known for, among others, US electric car manufacturer Tesla, space agency SpaceX and tunnelling company The Boring Company. Musk presented the concept in 2012. Since then, the concept has been further developed by a team including Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company.
To boost the development of the Hyperloop, SpaceX announced the first edition of the Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2015. Both student teams and companies could participate in this competition, for which they developed a hyperloop vehicle - a half-scale 'pod'. Among others, students from TU Delft participated in the competition. The pod realised by this team achieved the best score during the second phase of this competition, which looked at reliability, design, scalability and speed, among other things.
Quintero One
Meanwhile, several commercial companies not related to SpaceX are also working on Hyperloop initiatives. One of these companies is US-based HyperloopTT, which presented the first passenger pod for the Hyperloop in October. Called the Quintero One, this pod features a 15-metre-long passenger cabin and is 32 metres long overall. This is an early version of the pod; the Quintero One is still under development. The pod should be ready to carry passengers in 2019.
So with this same company, HHLA is now in talks about realising a Hyperloop route in Germany. Construction of this route should start in two or three years. The route will start at the Altenwerder container terminal, while the end point is not yet fixed. HHLA wants to use the Hyperloop to transport full sea containers, so that containers unloaded from ships can be discharged without the use of trucks. Some 4,100 containers should be transported per day. HHLA plans to use Automated Guided Vehicles to transport containers automatically to loading points for the Hyperloop.
'No agreement reached yet'
HHLA confirms to Abendblatt that it is holding talks with HyperloopTT, but says it has not yet reached an agreement with the company. It is therefore not yet certain whether the plans will go ahead. Earlier, German airline Lufthansa also showed interest in a Hyperloop route. The route could provide an alternative for domestic travel within Germany. For instance, travellers could use the Hyperloop to travel from Berlin to Munich or vice versa in just 30 minutes.
The Netherlands is also betting on the Hyperloop. Delft, for instance, is home to the first European test facility for the Hyperloop. This track opened its doors in June 2017 and was built by Hardt. This company was founded by some members of the TU Delft team that participated in the first SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. Hardt raised €1.25 million in an investment round earlier that year. The company is working with the Dutch government and industry, among others, to build a test facility in Flevoland. Schiphol is also investigating the possibility of deploying a Hyperloop route.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Hamburger Abendblatt
Source: HyperloopTT (photo)
Source: Hardt
