It has been more than a decade since Elon Musk first talked about Hyperloop. In 2013, the founder and owner of Tesla laid out the foundations of a new technology that would allow trains to run at speeds greater than 1,000 km/h inside a vacuum tube. Currently, the development of Hyperloop is gaining momentum in various places around the world, including Europe, where the first large test tunnel has already been built to validate its viability and effectiveness in real conditions.
The European Hyperloop Center (EHC) has announced the completion of its testing infrastructure in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a 420-meter tunnel with three endings where all the technologies that are being developed in Europe around Hyperloop can be calibrated.
A consortium made up of more than 25 companies, both from the public and private sectors, is working on the development of Hyperloop in Europe. This project, known as the Hyperloop Development Program (HDP), has the active participation of the EHC. The new facility created in this context will be available to any company interested in developing and testing technologies related to ultra-fast trains. Among these companies is the Spanish Zeleros, founded in 2016.
The testing infrastructure at the EHC is designed to represent the real-world conditions that would be found in a future Hyperloop network, allowing participating companies to test and refine their technologies in a controlled and safe environment. The inclusion of a complete lane change is one of the greatest contributions of the test tunnel.
The first company that will test its technology in the tunnel is Hardt Hyperloop. It will do so in the coming weeks, as announced by Marinus van der Meijs, co-founder and chief technology officer of the Dutch company. “The European Hyperloop Center facilities are the perfect terrain for us to validate and advance our technology. “This infrastructure allows us to demonstrate essential technologies such as magnetic levitation, propulsion, stabilization and even lane changing, at speeds of up to 100 km/h.”
The Hyperloop is based on a network of magnetically propelled levitating tubes, through which large capsules - wagons - circulate, which could be capable of reaching speeds of up to 1,200 km/h. This speed even exceeds that of conventional commercial aircraft.
The Hyperloop has the potential to connect cities such as Barcelona and Paris in just one hour, which represents a drastic reduction compared to the 6 hours and 16 minutes currently spent on a high-speed train journey. Furthermore, this ultra-fast system could compete directly with airplane flight times, which are around 1 hour and 55 minutes, offering a more technologically sustainable alternative.
According to the EHC, energy use when traveling with a Hyperloop is 10 times less compared to traveling by car or plane, providing an energy-efficient solution to growing transportation needs.
The European Hyperloop Center is part of a European research infrastructure cluster, which has a 120-meter Hyperloop test tunnel in Switzerland. Likewise, it is worth noting that a feasibility study on a Hyperloop pilot route was recently started in Italy.
