A new test track for the hyperloop is currently being built in Toulouse, France. The 320-metre-long track is being developed by the startup Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT). This US company wants to use the track to test its passenger capsule.
HyperloopTT announced this to CNBC. The Hyperloop is a concept for a vacuum train presented in 2012 by entrepreneur and entrepreneur Elon Musk, known for SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company, among others. The transport system uses a tube system in which a middle vacuum is created. This vacuum allows high speeds to be achieved.
Hyperloop Pod Competition
To accelerate the development of the Hyperloop, SpaceX launched the Hyperloop Pod Competition in June 2015. For the competition, a 1.6-kilometre-long test track was built next to SpaceX's headquarters in the US state of California. The Dutch student team Delft Hyperloop from TU Delft won this competition, while the German WARR team from Munich managed to achieve the highest speed.
Meanwhile, several commercial Hyperloop initiatives have also been set up by parties not related to SpaceX. One of these parties is HyperloopTT. This US company has now signed the first contracts for the realisation of Hyperloop systems. For instance, the company will build Hyperloop routes in Abu Dhabi, Ukraine and China.
Test track in Toulouse
In preparation for the realisation of these trajectories, HyperloopTT is currently working on its own 320-metre-long test track. This trajectory is being built in Toulouse, France, and is expected to be completed within a few months. Among other things, a pumping system that will provide vacuum in the tunnel will be installed in the coming period.
"In Toulouse, we took the time to design and build an actual commercially viable system," Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of HyperloopTT, told CNBC in a comment. Ahlborn says the new route will allow testing for the commercial Hyperloop routes it will build for customers. The CEO hopes to open the first commercial route in about three years.
First tests in April
The company expects to conduct the first tests on the track in April. These tests will be conducted with the Quintero One, a passenger capsule for Hyperloop trajectories presented by HyperloopTT in late 2018. This capsule is constructed almost entirely from Vibranium, a double-layer smart composite material developed in-house by the company. The passenger capsule is 32 metres long and contains a 15-metre cabin. The capsule weighs 5 tonnes and consists of 82 carbon fibre panels.
The Quintero One capsules can carry 28 to 40 passengers depending on their configuration. HyperloopTT expects the capsules to reach a maximum speed of 1,223 kilometres per hour. The routes HyperloopTT plans to build are designed to allow a new capsule to depart every 40 seconds. This means that 164,000 passengers can be transported on a single line per day.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: CNBC
Source: HyperloopTT
