Hyperloop, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s concept for the future of mass transportation aims to to combine air and rail transportation to provide fast, comfortable and efficient transport, and Daniel Carbonell will set out his ideas during a talk at New Scientist Live on Saturday entitled Hyperloop: the future of transportation. As technical director of HYP-ED, a student team based at the University of Edinburgh, Mr Carbonell and his team are dedicated to making the Hyperloop concept a reality, and together they scooped the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, having proposed a route connecting the capitals of Scotland and England, an idea backed by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson. While such a scheme is still a long way from becoming a reality, HYP-ED continues to work on its proposal, while explore solutions which could be applied in other countries.
Mr Carbonell told Express.co.uk: “So far we have made the UK’s first three prototype pods for the international competition hosted by SpaceX in California.
“The main focus of the competition is speed, but HYP-ED has used it as a platform to showcase new technology such as contactless magnetic levitation, propulsion, and carbon fibre pressurised vessels, which is crucial for the implementation of a full scale system.”
Mr Carbonell said hyperloop incorporates technology from planes and trains, putting high speed capsules into a low pressure environment, resulting in a system with very little friction and allowing it to reach speeds of about 800mph – almost four times faster than Eurostar.
He added: “The economic benefits of this are enormous. Taking a ride with a Hyperloop pod instead of an existing train could enable somebody to work 400 miles away and reach their destination faster than a location 40 miles away.
Taking a ride with a Hyperloop pod instead of an existing train could enable somebody to work 400 miles away and reach their destination faster than a location 40 miles away
Daniel Carbonell
“Opening up the possibility of spreading economic wealth across the country.”
Mr Carbonell said there was even potential to incorporate some aspects of hyperloop technology into the UK’s existing transport infrastructure – even the London Underground network.
He added: “The economic benefits of this are enormous. Taking a ride with a hyperloop pod instead of an existing train could enable somebody to work 400 miles away and reach their destination faster than a location 40 miles away.
“Opening up the possibility of spreading economic wealth across the country.”
Mr Carbonell said there was even potential to incorporate some aspects of hyperloop technology into the UK’s existing transport infrastructure – even the London Underground network.
He explained: “Hyperloop technology could definitely be applied to existing systems such as the London Underground network to speed up their operation.
“But a hyperloop requires a very straight track since at high speeds any movements are amplified. Think of the force you feel when taking a corner in a car at 20mph, then imagine how it would feel going 40 times faster!”
Not that hyperloop comes cheap. Mr Carbonell was reluctant to put an exact figure on the cost but suggested it would “upwards of £100billion”.
He added: “However, it would pay for itself much faster than other modes of transport since the high speeds of hyperloop gives it the capability of having multiple pods leave a station every minute.
“Given the timeline of large infrastructure projects like HS2, it is incredibly difficult and maybe even pointless to estimate the timescale on a UK Hyperloop.
“I’d hope that we could see something in the UK by 2040 but this depends on the acceptance of the new technology by regulatory bodies.
“There are already several companies around the world working on the concept and trying to make routes for passenger travel.
“A couple of years is very ambitious but I do see in countries where the regulation is looser a hyperloop within the next decade.
He stressed: “The technology is ready to be implemented today. Virgin Hyperloop One is an example that are currently working on a route in India between Mumbai and Pune.
“A lot of the personal safety measures like seatbelts will be mandatory, and safety features will be built into the infrastructure to reduce the damage of events such as terror attacks.
“Certainly having an underground route would make a lot of these issues more practical to solve.”
The cost of travel was also an uncertainty, explained Mr Carbonell.
He added: “The price of a ticket is entirely up to the providers and will probably depend on the location.
“It is hard to estimate this before a route has been established. Like other modes of transport, as the technology develops the cost will drop and eventually cost the same as a long range train ticket or short haul flight.”
Hyperloop: the future of transportation is on the Engineering stage on October 12 between 1.45pm and 2.25pm
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