Don't know about you guys but to me this is a huge step forward for the technology and the concept.  To actually transport passengers is the real deal.  Imagine what this technology could do between Sydney and Melbourne?

Virgin Hyperloop pod transport tests first passenger journey

A video has now been released https://www.railpage.com.au/news/s/video-virgin-hyperloop-tests-worldfirst-human-travel-in-hyperloop-pod showing the system.

Very exciting.

A video has now been released https://www.railpage.com.au/news/s/video-virgin-hyperloop-tests-worldfirst-human-travel-in-hyperloop-pod showing the system.

Very exciting.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. The technology may be fine and effective but cost is always a key part to determine its longterm success or not. they are claiming its the first new technology transport system in 100 years, no maglev and maybe even monorail would be new. Maglev has been like Fusion, the holy grail that keeps falling over on cost although I suspect Fusion has more chance of economic success.

Will we see a line Syd - Mel? Maybe one day, however compared to HSR, it is far more attractive compared to air.

The whole thing having people in a sealed vessel in a vacuum I don't see as a road block, but certainly needs serious safety features. It would be the first ground based transport system which doesn't have an emergency exit that can be operated by the people in the vehicle. Planes are really no different but on planes once you stop you can get off and more than a few planes have landed with a big hole in the pressure vessel.

Final point, lets see if the competing companies can get the "gauge" unified this time.

From what I can see in the video, this is a wheel mounted sled propelled by an unspeciifed means in an ordinary unevacuated tube at a modest speed.

This is a necessary step towards the final hovering, maglev vacuum tube model and congratulations to Virgin for making progress.  However there are a lot more steps along the way.  While maglev has proved to be practical,it has not yet proved to be economically viable.

The same cannot be said for the vacuum tube aspect.  It may work and, in fact, it probably will if enough money is thrown at it but that is the point.  There are many technical hurdles to be overcome as well as regulatory ones.  This is especially the case with safety standards.  Mr Musk can be a bit cavalier about this requirement and none of the developers that I can see have made any public statements on safety provisions.

The question I see that needs to be answered is whether high speed steel wheel on rail transport which has currently got to 574.8km/hr maximum speed with 400km/hr operating speed possible is a technology that can be incrementally sped up or is the new technology of the hyperlop the way to go..  The Hyperloop  is projected to reach 1200km/hr, with average speeds quoted as 960 km/hr. Some experts doubt these figures but I think we can rely on it being fast.

If they can build it for a price comparable to high speed rail then they will probably have a winner but I fail to see how such a complex structure can be built for a price other than at least as much as a high speed rail track.

(But what would I know. Just look at my bank balance compared to Mr Musks.)

Andrew Lund's (or was it Daniel Bowen?) take on this video was "rides like an X'trap through Richmond Junction". Not a great recommendation!

Neil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCm3ZZBae6I&ab_channel=John-007Files


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AzJ5_8Cqdc&ab_channel=MI5MI6GCHQ

The cynic in me thinks that this will go the way of the maglev.

A video has now been released https://www.railpage.com.au/news/s/video-virgin-hyperloop-tests-worldfirst-human-travel-in-hyperloop-pod showing the system.

Very exciting.

wow

To travel at +1000km/h it needs to be maglev in a vacuum tube. The maglev technology wise we have done, building a multiple 100km long tube, not an issue, its often called a pipeline or a subway/Metro. Combining all this inside a near vacuum including dealing with the pressure issues around stations and safety issues, lets see.

Musk has a knack of getting things right, eventually, most of the time and there are numerous different parties spending up on this, so lets see. As for Syd-Mel, I suspect the B737/A320 that are on order by QF and Vermin etc will enter service and leave service at end of life without major ground based transport competition.

The Korean's are moving ahead.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/hyperloop-korea-speed-record-korail-virgin-b1721942.html

A hyperloop prototype in South Korea has reached speeds over 1,000km/h, just days after a rival system performed the first successful passenger test using the technology.

The Korean Railroad Research Institute (Korail) announced on Wednesday that a “hyper-tube train” travelling through a vacuum hit a top speed of 1,019km/h (633mph).

To travel at +1000km/h it needs to be maglev in a vacuum tube. The maglev technology wise we have done, building a multiple 100km long tube, not an issue, its often called a pipeline or a subway/Metro. Combining all this inside a near vacuum including dealing with the pressure issues around stations and safety issues, lets see.

Musk has a knack of getting things right, eventually, most of the time and there are numerous different parties spending up on this, so lets see. As for Syd-Mel, I suspect the B737/A320 that are on order by QF and Vermin etc will enter service and leave service at end of life without major ground based transport competition.

The current state of the Hyperloop in real life is a short tunnel in Las Vegas being run by Tesla's to nowhere near the capacity touted by Elon, to which the number he quoted is physically impossible to achieve.