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Matthew Larotonda reports on an amazing project that will see super trains travelling as fast as jetliners.
British billionaire Richard Branson is throwing his weight behind a futuristic super train project whose backers claim could ferry passengers at airline speeds.
“Hyperloop One” announcing that Branson’s Virgin group will become a partner and take it global, with Branson gaining a seat on their board – although they didn’t disclose how much Virgin will be investing.
The idea behind Hyperloop One is to use a train levitated by magnets and sealed in a low-air pressure tube system to reduce friction.
The company says it could hit 670 miles per hour.
A small-scale test run seen here
The project was originally conceptualized by Tesla cars founder Elon Musk.
He claimed in July that he had received an informal nod for one of his companies to begin work on tunnels for a line between Washington, D.C. and New York.
But it’s not clear how far along the official process actually is.
Local governments and federal officials at the time playing down the hype and reporting they’d had little or no communication with the project.
There are also many questions regarding how safety regulators would certify the unproven technology, which features fully automated driverless trains.
Hyperloop was founded by former employees of Virgin Galactic, Branson’s space tourism project.
Video courtesy: Hyperloop One
