The Hyperloop And The New Means Of Transport

The Hyperloop appears to the market as the ground transportation of the future. This innovative project aims to create a high-speed train that travels enormous distances in a matter of minutes. Leading this project is Elon Musk, the famous founder of Tesla and the space project company SpaceX.

The Hyperloop project is one of the great technological innovations developed by Musk, and aims to establish a land transportation system that surpasses all speed records.

This prototype train aims to exceed 1 000 km / h, which would exceed the cruising speed of a commercial flight, which is around 900 km / h.

The original idea for this project is over a century old. Its origins date back to the end of the 19th century, when capsules that circulated through a vacuum tube began to be designed. This is precisely the technology on which the Hyperloop intends to be based.

Hyperloop technology

This future train will use a system similar to that of the Japanese bullet train, which works by magnetic levitation. The Hyperloop will use electromagnetic forces to move inside a tube in which a vacuum has been generated.

This lack of air will allow the train to take advantage of a large momentum, and its levitation on the rails will eliminate the friction reduction in speed.

This system does not require the use of fossil fuels, which harmonizes with the philosophy of the creator of Tesla in terms of contribution to sustainable means of transport. The Hyperloop works with batteries that could be recharged thanks to a system of solar panels installed in the tubes.

The capsule inside which the train circulates is magnetized in its upper part, which makes the system have a more energy efficient technology. This also gives it a mechanical advantage: the ‘pendulum effect’.

According to this phenomenon, if an object held in its upper part is released, it moves to one side and then returns to the center.

This is due to the inertia of the movement, and gives the Hyperloop greater stability, despite being such a simple principle in appearance. In addition, it improves your stability when cornering and further reduces energy consumption.

Spain’s contribution to the Hyperloop

The Hyperloop project has two research teams from the Higher Polytechnic University of Valencia, which are exclusively dedicated to working on the development of this technology.

These teams have much lower resources and a budget than the rest of the project participants.

However, his proposals have won awards in two categories: concept and propulsion. This success has led Spanish research teams to expand their staff and begin to be seen as very capable competitors, not just a group of students.

These Hyperloop UPV project teams are made up of final year undergraduate students and master’s students. In their hands they have a technology that could change the methods of land transport and the world of sustainable mobility.

The hyperloop connection between Madrid and Barcelona

The advances made in the development of the Hyperloop are allowing the installation of these trains in cities to be closer and closer. The connection could reach Spain in 2019 and would make it possible to cover the journey from Madrid to Barcelona in half an hour, with a speed of 1,200 km / h.

According to the statements of the CEO of the project, in 2014 the feasibility study was completed, and the technology is now ready to be installed. The next step of the project is to obtain the necessary licenses to begin the construction of the train networks.

If the project continues with its planning, it could open to the public in 2019. The Hyperloop could move 10 million people a year, so that, eight years after the installation of the trains, the project would be profitable.

At the moment, the Hyperloop project is private and does not have public funding. His main objective right now is to get the support of governments to continue with the long infrastructure that this train system requires.