The Hyperloop is a low-pressure tube in which passenger capsules can travel at extraordinary speed thanks to the reduced pressure – and it’s an idea that many engineers worldwide have been working on since he proposed it more than a decade ago.
The head of Tesla, among others, had told it at the time that it could transport passengers for the nearly 645 kilometers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes – a distance that takes 1:30 by air.
But this is an idea that so far no one in the world has yet managed to commercialize.
The main “player” in the hyperloop space was Hyperloop One in the USA, which due to financial problems ceased operational efforts in December 2023.
After testing Hyperloop One’s propulsion system, Wednesday, May 11, 2016, in Las Vegas (AP Photo/John Locher)
However, in other parts of the world, hyperloop projects are still underway, aspiring to completely change the way people get around.
In particular, companies in Europe are actively developing the technology, while the European Union is funding research projects that aspire to lead to the first commercial line in little more than a decade.
Of course, this may never happen. Experts in hyperloop technology have often explained that the construction of such a line requires huge funding, construction of the necessary infrastructure, and there are also many practical limitations. So many in the rail industry remain skeptical about whether the hyperloop could ultimately be more than a pipe dream.
However, those working on the technology still believe that we could all potentially be moving in high-speed tubes – either underground or above ground via a pipe supported on stilts – all within the next few decades.
A century of efforts
For more than a century, engineers have dreamed of reaching aircraft-level speeds without ever needing to take off.
Over the decades, all kinds of different technologies have been proposed to achieve speeds that conventional trains cannot reach. Magnetic levitation, air currents and vacuum tubes have all been touted as “the future of travel”. However, so far, none have succeeded in displacing traditional steel wheels from steel rails as the world’s most efficient method of mass transportation.
It was in 2013, when Musk proposed the hyperloop. His idea combined magnetic levitation (maglev) technology already in use in parts of China and Japan, with low-pressure vacuum tubes to reduce drag and turbulence. The result would theoretically be speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per hour, using far less energy than high-speed or maglev trains, and operating almost silently.
Elon Musk at the second Hyperloop Pod Competition in California, 2017 (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Musk’s idea – which he purposely did not patent – immediately sparked worldwide interest. Hyperloop wasn’t just envisioned as an upgrade to high-speed rail — many believed it could replace air travel. Although there were reservations, investors around the world jumped on the bandwagon, and by 2017 35 routes had been proposed in 17 countries.
The American Hyperloop One became a “key player” after it was the one that managed to secure more than $400 million in investment – but this proved to be not enough, with the company then focusing on cargo transport, before giving up for good. The Verge magazine wrote at the time that “Hyperloop is dead”.
Somehow, twelve years since the world’s richest man first proposed the idea, and despite millions of dollars invested in marketing and developing the technology, the hyperloop as a transportation option remains largely theoretical.
“Hyperloop is inoperable. The infrastructure needed would be incredibly expensive to build and could not compete with high-speed rail or airlines. And there are doubts about energy costs, capacity and passenger safety if something goes wrong at such high speeds. Musk pulled out because as a business plan it’s not viable — the economics just don’t work,” rail expert and author Christian Vollmar explained to CNN.
European efforts
So who continues to keep the hyperloop dream alive? For starters, The European Union. Europe’s Hyperloop Development Program (HDP) is a partnership supported by EU funding and the private sector.
HDP’s vision is to open the first set of commercially viable hyperloop lines by 2035-40, followed by a network of routes by 2050. It estimates that a 24,140km network connecting 130 of Europe’s major cities could bring 66% of short-haul passengers to the hyperloop by 2050, saving between €113m and 242 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Hubs of the core network would be scattered across the continent from London to Berlin, from Madrid to Belgrade and from Sofia to Athens, while loops would serve the Iberian Peninsula, the Baltic countries and Scandinavia, the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe. The cost? An impressive amount of 981 billion euros, according to HDP estimates.
However, there are other dynamic “players”. One of them is Hardt Hyperloop based in Rotterdam. CEO Roel van de Pas is convinced that the hyperloop is the missing link for rail technology and the only “viable, sustainable solution to replace short-haul air travel” over distances greater than 500km. “It is 90% more efficient than air travel, operating costs and maintenance costs are much lower than conventional high-speed rail and, as a closed, autonomous system, it is not affected by external factors such as bad weather or strikes,” he told Euronews recently.
Hardt says it has made significant improvements over the past 12 months, and hopes to have the first passenger test by 2030.
Elsewhere, Hyperloop Italia is investing in a line between Venice and Padua, costing up to €800m, which could be ready by 2029, while Germany, Spain and India and China are also exploring test routes to see the technology’s viability.
