The first human passenger tests were successfully conducted on November 8th, 2020 at Virgin Hyperloop’s 500-meter DevLoop test site in Las Vegas, Nevada; making history in transportation with an XP-2 Test Vehicle that makes it possible for passengers to safely travel in a hyperloop environment.
With Dubai’s DP World as a major shareholder in the project, the company Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem in his remarks noted that “We are one step closer to ushering in a new era of ultra-fast, sustainable movement of people and goods.”
This invention paves the way for the future of mass transportation around the world and most especially, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the GCC region.
An ultrafast transportation system is the promise of the Virgin Hyperloop, giving better chances to the possibility for commercial space travel and faster air transportation across various locations around the world.
Founded in 2014, this innovation draws from bringing to reality, the vision for “a futuristic transportation system of magnetically levitating pods traveling through nearly airless tubes at speeds of up to 760 mph (1,223 km/h)”.
The test vehicle was designed by Bjarke Ingels with a capacity for two passengers to prove the passenger ability for safe travel through the hyperloop environment with the necessary subsystem that will not require passengers to travel within the vacuum using a spacesuit.
Future vehicle designs will be different and have the capacity to accommodate up to 28 passengers.
Source: Tech Gist Africa
