Transportation Hyperloop's $500M futuristic transport test & certification facilities to be built in West Virgina

[Shellac And Vinyl VelocitY]

Q. What is the (still-theoretical) HYPERLOOP of the future?

A. It's a transportation system of magnetically levitating pods that would carry passengers & cargo through a nearly-airless transit tube at ultra-fast speeds with minimal air pollution. The theoretical maximum speed would be 700 miles-per-hour.

The following video is "Hyperloop Explained"; The first 4 minutes can be skipped, as the Virgin Hyperloop system begins at @ 4' :

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Snippets from: https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/08/v...gy-at-new-west-virginia-certification-center/

Before now, Virgin Hyperloop has been developing and testing its hyperloop technology at its full-scale proving ground in North Las Vegas. The company created a 500-meter long “development loop” for running its tests, and performed its first full-scale system test in 2017. This new [West Virginia] facility will be used specifically for certification, but will involve similar large-scale systems testing and involve “thousands” of new jobs created, according to the company.

Virgin Hyperloop ultimately hopes to fully safety certify its system by 2025, and then ultimately enter into commercial operation with a real system by 2030, if all goes well.

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Snippets from: https://www.reuters.com/article/vir...est-high-speed-transport-system-idUSKBN26U08Y

Federal regulators will use the center, and accompanying six-mile test track, to establish regulatory and safety standards, while Virgin will test its product and infrastructure.

The announcement comes less than three months after the Transportation Department published guidance on a regulatory framework for U.S. hyperloop systems.

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Slideshow of renderings of West Virginia facility:

Virgin Hyperloop to build certification center in West Virginia

Virgin Hyperloop has settled on a location for a new facility that will serve as a key stepping stone in the development of its next-generation transport system in the US. The Hyperloop Certification Center is to be built in West Virginia and will play host to the company’s testing and…

newatlas.com

 

[michaelskis]

I think it is beyond theoretical at this point. The test facility in AZ has shown that it can work and a 100 mile line is under construction in India.

India approves Mumbai-Pune hyperloop in bid to build world's first system

The government of the Indian state of Maharashtra has approved Virgin Hyperloop One's plans to develop a line between Mumbai and Pune, which could become the world's first hyperloop project.

www.dezeen.com

I was in a presentation that indicated that they are planning a route that would connect Raleigh to Washington DC, and then extend it up to coast with stops in Philly, NYC, and Boston.

 

[Shellac And Vinyl VelocitY]

I think it is beyond theoretical at this point. The test facility in AZ has shown that it can work and a 100 mile line is under construction in India.

Thank you, michaelskis, for bringing up that point.

The Hyperloop is definitely beyond theoretical in one sense:
Test speeds of up to 245 miles per hour could be reached at the Virgin Hyperloop One facility that had been built near Las Vegas, Nevada.
Details were described in an article from one year ago:

Hyperloop testing near Las Vegas generates global interest

Virgin Hyperloop One is looking to take the progress the company has seen at their Southern Nevada test track and implement the underground, high-speed transportation model worldwide.

www.reviewjournal.com

India is indeed likely have the first Hyperloop system up and running:

The project will begin with a demonstration track — which a feasibility study is underway for — followed by the implementation of a fully operational route.

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The Hyperloop of the future, however, is still theoretical; the ultimate speed goal is nearly 700 miles per hour:

Q. What is the (still-theoretical) HYPERLOOP of the future?

A. It's a transportation system of magnetically levitating pods that would carry passengers & cargo through a nearly-airless transit tube at ultra-fast speeds with minimal air pollution. The theoretical maximum speed would be 700 miles-per-hour.

The new West Virgina site described in my first post will be testing Virgin Hyperloop pods at 600 miles per hour or faster.
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My apologies if I looked like I was shouting when I italicized and bolded the data. It was perhaps an over-zealous attempt to emphasize the technology and the different speeds of the pods.

 

[Shellac And Vinyl VelocitY]

Last Sunday, November 15, 2020:
Virgin Hyperloop became the first company to conduct a human test of the technology at its 500-meter test track in a desert town just north of Las Vegas.

A Step Forward in the Promise of Ultrafast ‘Hyperloops’

Two employees of Virgin Hyperloop traveled on a small system the company has built near Las Vegas, the first such manned test.

www.nytimes.com

The two volunteers, wearing casual street clothes, were whisked in a pod that was levitated by magnets inside a vacuum tube to 107 m.p.h. in 6.25 seconds.