Hyperloop
A Hyperloop is a proposed type of train that would travel at very high speeds. The reason it can travel so fast is because it is inside a tube with no air. This vacuum means that there will be no friction to slow the train.
The Hyperloop is being created and tested in various places around the world, for example the United States, the Middle East and Asia.
In 2012, Elon Musk (Tesla Motors, SpaceX) proposed this technology. In 2013, he put a plan online that showed the hyperloop train taking 35 minutes to go between San Francisco and Los Angeles in the United States. He shared this technology to the world. In 2015, Musk's company built a 1.6 kilometres (0.99 miles) test tube. He asked universities and companies to make the test trains. They had two competitions in 2017 to see how fast the hyperloop trains could travel. The fastest test was 324 kilometres per hour (201 miles per hour).
Possible advantages
- The hyperloop will be faster than cars, buses and regular trains. Elon Musk suggests that it may be possible to travel over 700 kilometres per hour (430 miles per hour).
- The hyperloop will be eco-friendly compared to a lot of current transportation. Most plans for building the hyperloop use solar power to run the system.
- The hyperloop is a free and open-source technology. Elon Musk put the plans online for anyone to use and asked people to improve the technology
- Because the hyperloop trains run inside of a tube, they will not be affected by weather such as snow or fog.
Possible disadvantages
- Building costs will probably be very high. It is predicted that the Los Angeles to San Fransisco hyperloop would cost between 6 and 7.5 billion USD to build.
- The trains will vibrate at a high speed which may cause passengers problems such as dizziness or stomach upset.
- Passengers will not be able to move while the hyperloop is traveling. As in a rapid transit system, there will be no access to toilets during trips.
