Potential UK Hyperloop Line Could Take You From London to Glasgow in 30 Minutes

Elon Musk’s Hyperloop. It’s crazy! It’s fast! It’s impossible! But, if it ever becomes a real thing, it could be headed to the UK, too.

That’s according to Bibop G Gresta, the COO and Deputy Chairman of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. Speaking this week at BaseStone’s Construct / Disrupt event in London, he stated that our fair isles would make a great fit for Musk’s barmy 760mph capsule-class future train.

“We see the UK as one of the first possible candidates for the construction of a full length Hyperloop,” said Gresta.

“We at Hyperloop Transportation Technologies have the technology to connect London to Glasgow in as little as 30 mins. And we could build it within five years time.”

Can you imagine, Elon “Tony Stark” Musk swooping in with his crazy train to save us from delays, barrier crushes and strikes? What a hero. It currently takes over four hours to get to Glasgow by train, and an hour and twenty minutes flying.

However, the Hyperloop remains at this point a concept rather than a working form of transportation – the first Hyperloop test track, costing $150 million (£98 million) to make and running out of Kings County, California, will only begin construction in the next two to three weeks. Only then will we start to see if Musk’s idea (born as a white paper back in 2013) is viable.

To hit its incredible high speeds, Musk’s design proposes placing pressurised passenger capsules in reduced pressure tubes, which are propelled forwards on an air cushion by linear induction motors and air compressors. It’s basically near-frictionless travel, with passengers experiencing similar g-forces as those felt by Formula One drivers.

Source: Gizmodo
Author: Gerald Lynch