- A Hyperloop was recently successfully tested in a two-kilometer-long tube in China
- It is planned that the Hyperloop will transport passengers at 1,200 km/h and more in the future . It would be the fastest means of land transport on earth
A Hyperloop recently successfully completed several tests in China. In the future, the means of transport should transport passengers at 1,200 km/h and more.
Datong (China). Back in 2013, Elon Musk presented the concept for the Hyperloop , a high-speed transport system in which capsules glide on an air cushion in an evacuated tube at almost the speed of sound. The company Virgin Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Technologies) carried out the first journeys with passengers with a Hyperloop in November 2020 in a 500-meter-long test tube in Las Vegas. However, the company has since announced that its Hyperloop will be used to transport cargo, not people, in the future.
The future of the Hyperloop as a means of transport for people is therefore very likely in China . According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), three tests with a Hyperloop were recently successfully completed at a China Aerospace Science and Industry Cooperation (CASIC) defense contractor’s site.
During the first tests, the Hyperloop accelerated to 50 km/h in its previously only two-kilometer-long tube. According to the SCMP, the trips were primarily carried out for testing critical components. In the coming years, the tube will be expanded to a length of 37 kilometers. Tests should then take place at significantly higher speeds. The goal is to develop a land-based transport system that enables speeds of 1,200 km/h and more. The Hyperloop would thus be the fastest means of land transport on earth.
In addition to China and the USA, research is also being carried out on the Hyperloop in Germany . The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is currently building a tube in Bavaria in which the first test drives with a Hyperloop are to take place in 2023.
Bullet Trains in China
With 42,000 high-speed lines, China already has the world’s largest high-speed rail network. The trains running there should reach speeds of 400 km/h in two years. That would make them about a third as fast as the planned Hyperloop. China has also developed the Maglev magnetic levitation train , which, with a speed of 600 km/h, is one of the fastest land vehicles in the world and can replace airplanes on short and medium distances.
