According to the data released by the US Census Bureau (2019), there were 4.3 million workers who spend 90 minutes in commute in 2018.
On top of losing precious time, their travel time also limits their access to better experiences and opportunities. Fortunately, Virgin Hyperloop is putting an end to this by building a system that will deliver the travel experience of the future.
Founded in 2014, Virgin Hyperloop is developing the technology that will pave the way for fast, effortless journeys. The company’s system is designed to propel passenger or cargo pods at speeds topping 1,000 km/h.
With this innovation, commuting can be 3x faster than high-speed rail and more than 10x faster than traditional rail.
“It will feel like an aircraft at take-off and once you’re at speed you won’t even have turbulence…” the Co-Founder and CEO Josh Giegel shared with Reuters. “… Our system is basically completely able to react to all that turbulence. Think noise-cancelling but bump-cancelling, if you will.”
In an exclusive tour, Josh showed the pod used in its November test run, which was propelled along a 500-meter tunnel. The company used off-white materials and a back mirror to make the pod look bigger and more appealing for new users.
With Virgin Hyperloop, passengers of the future can access direct and on-demand transportation.
Pods can depart per minute and the system does not need to make stops at every station. Passengers can basically forget about timetables and focus on things that matter.
This pod will also look radically different from the test-run pod and can accommodate up to 28 passengers. It could be customized for long and short distances travel, as well as for cargo of high-priority, on-demand goods such as fresh food, medical supplies, and electronics.
Moreover, the Virgin Hyperloop is designed to have a significantly lower environmental impact than other modes of mass transportation.
The company has successfully run hundreds of tests at their full-scale prototype in the Nevada desert. Last November, Virgin Hyperloop made a mark in the transportation industry after their first passengers travelled safely on a hyperloop.
The victorious moment goes to show that their system can safely put passengers in a near-vacuum environment. Their entire safety approach was also validated by an independent third party.
In the event of a breach, pods will continue to travel safely to the next portal. Pods will intentionally repressurize the tube with small valves places along the route length while engaging pod brakes.
Through this, the company can safely bring all pods to rest before it is deemed safe to continue to the next portal.
Virgin Hyperloop’s innovative mass transportation system is still at an early stage. But with over $400 million funding from investors such as Virgin Group, Caspian VC Partners, DP World Group, Manta Ray Ventures, Russian Direct Investment Fund, and OurCrowd, the company is very close to translating its vision to reality.
In fact, Josh Giegel shared that their commercial operations could be set as early as 2027.
The company aims to develop their passenger routes in places where the solution is needed the most.
They plan to launch in India, where the transport system is overloaded, as well as Saudi Arabia, which lacks infrastructure.
“It starts off with two people riding a Hyperloop. It ends with hundreds of millions of people riding on a Hyperloop and that’s what the 2020s, the roaring 20s will be,” Josh happily shared. You can learn more about Virgin Hyperloop’s revolutionary transportation system here.
Watch the FIRST Virgin Hyperloop passenger experience test video below: