Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is based on Elon Musk's concept of high-speed hyperloop transportation. — AFP Relaxnews
The company building the world's first superfast hyperloop train system in the United Arab Emirates will complete a first phase of its construction next year, a top executive said on Jan 17.
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, based on Elon Musk's concept of high-speed hyperloop transportation, plans to build 10km of a 150km route linking Abu Dhabi and Dubai next year, company chairman Bibop Gresta told the official WAM news agency.
Gresta did not give a specific date for the launch of the high-speed transport system but said estimates put the cost at US$3bil (RM12.36bil) to US$6bil (RM24.73bil).
Last April, Hyperloop signed a memorandum of understanding with Al-Dar Properties, a major real estate firm based in Abu Dhabi, for the construction and operation of the near-supersonic transport link.
The first capsule of the UAE train has now left the assembly facility in Spain to Toulouse, France where it will be tested on a prototype track, Gresta said.
A hyperloop is a shuttle pod that travels on magnetic rails, somewhat like a train, but runs through a vacuum tube, massively cutting air resistance.
In theory, hyperloops could allow travel at faster than the speed of sound. – AFP Relaxnews
