A transportation system that could fire passengers between three European capital cities in just 18 minutes has passed a significant hurdle.
Hyperloop is a conceptual futuristic transport system that would work by sending small passenger-filled pods through a semi-vacuum tube at speeds of up to 700mph.
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk came up with the concept, and released it for free.
Now a company called Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has struck a deal with the government of Slovakia, and hopes to connect the country with Austria and Hungary with the system.
A journey from Bratislava to Budapest via Vienna can currently take up to five hours by train.
But that journey could be cut to just 18 minutes if and when the system is fully operational, the firm says.
The loop could also connect the two sides of Slovakia, a journey which currently takes more than four hours by car.
Blueprints for the futuristic tubular transport system have already been put forward in the US, but this the the first concrete proposal for the system elsewhere in the world.
The first section of the loop - which will be used for testing initially - will be completed by 2020.
0 komentar: