Hyperloop is no longer a concept, insists Josh Giegel, one of the surviving co-founders of Virgin Hyperloop One. “This is not a technology experiment,” he says. “I came to Hyperloop One because I want to ride a hyperloop.”
It is five years since the seed of hyperloop was formed by Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk. Proposing a “fifth mode of transport”, dreamt up while sitting in Los Angeles traffic, the entrepreneur claimed a replacement for high-speed rail and short-haul air travel could involve shooting passenger pods down a vacuum tube at 670mph.
The idea seemed far fetched - even Mr Musk himself did not take on the job of designing it, despite releasing a technical paper in 2013.
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