Magnetic Levitation for Public Transportation: Introducing Virgin Hyperloop One

Recently transportation technology took a massive leap with the groundbreaking announcement of  Virgin Group’s investment in Hyperloop One, the innovative and exciting new way to move people and things at airline speeds on the ground. Hyperloop One will officially be rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop One.

Watch Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group talk about this new venture for Virgin Group below:

With Virgin Hyperloop One, passengers and cargo will be loaded into a pod and accelerated gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube. The pod quickly lifts above the track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag.

During phase two of testing, the top speed of the Hyperloop was 192mph (310kmh) – or 86 meters per second. With projected journey times in the UK including Edinburgh to London in 50 minutes, and Glasgow to Liverpool in 47 minutes, Virgin Hyperloop One is set to transform passengers’ lives.

You may first have heard of the original Hyperloop concept through Elon Musk and SpaceX’s white paperback in August 2013. Virgin has been known for disruption and innovation in transport from their trains to their spaceline, and the proprietary levitation system of Hyperloop One is the next frontier. Virgin Hyperloop One will be all-electric and it is working to ensure that it is a responsible and sustainable form of transportation.

The technology for Hyperloop One is currently in the early stages of the commercialization phase after the successful completion of the world’s first full-scale Hyperloop systems test at their DevLoop site outside of  Las Vegas.

Also of interest, check out Sir Richard Branson’s autobiography Finding My Virginity Read more here on Richard Branson’s blog.

Related articles

• Hyperloop One rebrands as Virgin Hyperloop One following sizable investment