It feels like 2016 news when a Hyperloop test facility in Europe completed the longest vacuum capsule journey ever. This milestone could bring this forgotten promise of high-speed transportation one step closer to reality.
The Hyperloop concept, originally proposed by Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper, involves train-like vehicles traveling at high speeds in vacuum-sealed tubes, gliding via magnetic levitation. In the absence of weather, traffic or air resistance, a top speed of 1,200 km/h (746 mph) is expected.
News surrounding the development of hyperloop transportation technology seems to have slowed down in recent years, but has not completely stagnated. An outfit in Switzerland, EPFL, has been testing Hyperloop technology through the so-called LIMITLESS project - one of the most awkward acronyms in recent memory, which apparently stands for "Linear Induction Motor Drives for Traction and Suspension in Sustainable Hyperloop Systems." However, the name LIMITLESS is obviously not that catchy.
All in all, this project is a 1:12 scale model of the Hyperloop, with a pipe diameter of 40 cm (15.7 inches) and a track circumference of 125.6 meters (412 feet). Currently, the LIMITLESS project has conducted a total of 82 tests with a pressure of only 50 millibars. Among them, in the longest test, the space capsule traveled 11.8 kilometers (7.3 miles) and reached a maximum speed of 40.7 kilometers/hour (25.3 miles/hour).
This is the farthest distance a vacuum chamber has traveled to date, equivalent to 141.6 kilometers (88 miles) if scaled up. If scaled up, the top speed would be 488.2 kilometers per hour (303.4 mph) - quite fast, but not quite the Hyperloop's fastest speed. Just a few months ago, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) achieved a speed of 623km/h (387mph) during a short test run.
While there's still a lot of work to be done, the LIMITLESS test shows that Hyperloop still has the opportunity to speed up long-distance travel.
Source EPFL