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Virgin Hyperloop has released a new video outlining its plans for a transportation system that will allow passengers to travel in a semi-empty tube, reaching speeds of 670 miles per hour (1078 kilometers per hour).
The company says the system “will define new frontiers for travel in the 21st century” and allow people to travel between cities in minutes.
The design features a series of metro-like capsules that run inside a tube in which a semi-empty environment is maintained, according to the video posted Monday on Twitter.
By virtually eliminating aerodynamic drag, these battery-powered tubes can reach speeds of up to 670 miles per hour with little power used, according to the company.
She explained that instead of the capsules being connected like train cars, they would travel in convoys, meaning they could travel to different destinations.
The capsules could detach from the convoy the same way a car exits a freeway on a ramp, and the system would be able to carry “tens of thousands of passengers per hour, each way,” according to the video.
Despite all the excitement, hyperloops are yet to be proven.
The company, which is affiliated with billionaire Richard Branson, conducted its first test drive with passengers last November. He had previously carried out more than 400 vacancies, according to a press release from the company at the time.
In testing, the vehicle, which looks like a closed compartment, reached a speed of just 100 mph on the track, the company said. Virgin Hyperloop said its track is 500 meters long, which limits the speed at which vehicles can travel.
The company still has a long way to go to develop a system that works like video, according to Marcelo Blumenfield, industrial researcher for the introduction of innovation at Birmingham Rail Research and Education Center in England.
“It’s not possible now,” Blumenfeld said. “We don’t know yet when that will be possible.”
But Blumenfeld points out that even days before the Wright Brothers’ first flight, people didn’t think the man was going to fly away.
Blumenfeld believes hyperloop technology will come into play at some point over the next several decades, but companies must decide what type of transmission system they try to develop.
Virgin Hyperloop is not alone in the technology. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced a concept for a hyperloop system in 2013.
Virgin Hyperloop was founded in 2014. Richard Branson, who made his first tourist space flight last July, joined its board in 2017.
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