HYPERLOOP

Hyperloop is a very high speed train project.

HYPERLOOP: PROJECT OF ELON MUSK

It was proposed by Elon Musk, founder of the companies Tesla Motors and SpaceX. In the white paper Hyperloop Alpha, published in August 2013, this visionary boss describes the concept as a fifth mode of transport alongside the car, the plane, the boat and the trains.

HOW THE HYPERLOOP WORKS

Technically, it is to circulate on a cushion of air capsules of less than three meters in diameter in low pressure tubes. Propulsion is provided by electromagnets in the form of a solenoid. A compressor would draw compressed air from the front of the moving capsules to both feed the air cushion and reduce friction.

SUBSONIC TRAIN WITH A SPEED OF 1200 KM/H

Such a train could evolve at a subsonic speed of around 1,200 km / h (almost the speed of sound) by carrying passengers and cargo. A Paris-Marseille connection would then take only forty minutes.

HYPERLOOP ONE: HYPERLOOP TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES AND TRANSPOD

Several companies, as well as universities, have begun to work on Hyperloop projects. Among the most advanced, Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies) was the first to perform a public test of this technology on May 11, 2016. That same year, the SNCF decided to join the adventure by investing in this young shoot .

Two other companies, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (USA) and Transpod (Canada) are also in the race to create this train of the future that would be safer, less polluting than the aircraft and not subject to weather hazards. The main project stakeholders believe that Hyperloop's first commercial lines could be operational by 2020.