From London to Paris in 20 minutes? Europe wants to take a leap when it comes to railway technology and the speed of transportation, and for this it analyzes a project of train without tracks, the hyperloopwhich looks like something out of a science fiction movie.
The step is being taken by the newcomer European Hyperloop Centerin Veendam, in the north of the Netherlands, which was intended in 2024 as a platform to test technologies that can then scale to international routes.
In this case, the term hyperloop describes a system of capsules that move inside low-pressure tubes (almost vacuum), supported by magnetic levitation to reduce friction and accelerate like never before. With it we seek to rewrite the map of distances on the continent.
In the Dutch laboratory they work with a 400 meter test tubewhere prototypes, control systems and maneuvers that would be essential in a real network are tested: from acceleration and stability, to “lane changes” inside the tube.
In 2013, Elon Musk popularized the concept when he published a white paper that revived interest in a “fifth mode” of land transportation, capable of competing with commercial aviation in travel time.
A key advance
The teams recently achieved a key breakthrough: a lane change without moving partsusing only magnets, a test that was carried out at 88 km/h and which they seek to convert into a decisive step to think about more complex and extensive routes.
The central argument of the hyperloop is simple to explain and difficult to execute: by moving in a low resistance environment (due to the absence of air) and without physical contact with traditional rails, the capsules could exceed 965 km/h and convert hours-long journeys into minutes.
Costs, capacity and a great discussion
But the “trackless train” also comes with an asterisk: his future remains uncertain.
Part of the debate involves the cost of infrastructure and the real capacity of the system. One point that divides defenders and critics is whether the hyperloop can transport volumes comparable to those of a high-speed train.
From the enthusiastic side, Kees Mark -director of the Veendam center, cited in a note in The Telegraph- maintains that the infrastructure can be similar to that of the fast train, but that the operating costs would be lower due to energy efficiency: he suggests that in many modes of transport, a large part of the energy goes into overcoming air resistance, something that is drastically reduced in a vacuum.
Critics, however, point to scale. The specialist Robert Nolanddirector of Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Centerwarns that the ability to move people would be much lower because the current capsules are smaller than a train, which could push fares high and limit the massive impact of the system.
In that same sense, it is mentioned that the first certified pod for passengers in Europe – developed by the Technical University of Munich– It would have capacity for five people and it wouldn’t even have a bathroom.
When could it become real?
For now, hyperloop is still in the experimental phase.
Turning it into a commercial network will require years of testing, sustained investment and regulatory validations, and those responsible for the center are confident that it could operate on international routes before 2040, if financing and cooperation support.
