11 thoughts on “Hyperloop”

  1. What does this do that high-speed rail doesn’t do?

    Or put it another way, this is yet another common carrier mode of transportation that is supposed to entice you out of your own car? Where you have to sit for a time in a cabin next to some young punk with a rheumy cough and who doesn’t seem to know that a dude shouldn’t spread his thigh and knee into the seating space of another dude?

    1. There are various versions of this possible, but most of what I have seen are individual capsules running and routing on demand. Some even show a robotic car picking you up at your home or office, driving you to the tube, and being placed in a carrier of other people/parcels going to the same place where, upon arrival, they all break out and go to their separate destinations.

      You won’t likely find all this in the first iteration, but in time, there is the possibility for individualized Third Wave transportation, versus mass transit, with door to door high-speed transport on demand.

      Then there are the car-carrier options that have gained some press, with the elevators on the street that take your car down to the tunnel for some warp speed commuting. Obviously going to be problems getting this done, even if economically feasible, but given some of the other things Musk has done, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

  2. I suspect this will be best for high speed package transport, for example between FedEx hubs. They are smaller than people, requiring smaller vehicles and tubes, and many should be capable of handling higher acceleration (for smaller turning radii).

  3. 200 mph is way too slow. Even conventional high-speed rail can travel faster than that. Take the Paris-Strasbourg TGV line for example it achieves 200 mph in regular service. With less carriages the train can travel even faster. The top speed in the tests was 357 mph. I sincerely doubt the construction costs for the Hyperloop would be less expensive than conventional rail. Especially with the all elevated sections I keep seeing in the prototypes. Cheaper than Maglev sure, but not conventional rail.
    .

    1. You don’t do 200 MPH on just any steel rail, you need rail laid with special care to being smooth, properly spaced, etc.

      1. Forget about the smooth steel rails.

        Any kind of common carrier mode of transportation, I don’t care if it is the Concorde, it is just another example of a bus. See

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZkouut-9RQ

        “There’s a suitcase pokin’ me in the ribs
        There’s an elbow in my ear
        There’s a smelly old bum standin’ next to me
        Hasn’t showered in a year
        Well, I think I’m missin’ a contact lens
        I think my wallet’s gone
        And I think this bus is stoppin’ again
        To let a couple more freaks get on
        Look out

        Another one rides the bus-ah
        Another one rides the bus-ah
        And another comes on
        And another comes on
        Another one rides the bus-ah
        Hey
        He’s gonna sit by you
        Another one rides the bus”

    2. 200 is what they achieved in this test, they are predicting 700+ in an operational system. What I don’t understand is why this would be cheaper than maglev. It *uses* magnetic levitation inside the vacuum tube. And I really don’t understand how it would be cheaper than conventional high speed rail, but, if Elon can do it *without* a government subsidy, then I say go for it.

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