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The hyperloop railway. Picture: Supplied
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news.com.au
CAPABLE of travelling faster than the speed of sound, the
'hyperloop' could soon become the 'fifth mode of transport' if the
dreams of its billionaire creator come true.
Reaching speeds of more than 1102 kilometres per hour, and
described as "a cross between a Concorde, a railgun, and an air-hockey
table", the hyperloop could get you to your destination in half the time
of the average plane.That would mean a trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which are 552 kilometres apart, would be over in just half an hour.
That's the crux of what we know about the mysterious 'hyperloop' railway project so far, but that's about to change ...
Billionaire inventor Elon Musk is set to unveil the details behind his $6.5 billion concept within the next 24 hours, causing great suspense in the Twitterverse.
He posted this Tweet last month, promising all will be revealed by August 12:
Musk, the founder of SpaceX and co-founder of PayPal and Tesla Motors, gave few details about the concept at a conference last July, describing it as being unable to crash and immune to weather.
"We have planes, trains, automobiles and boats," he said. "What if there was a fifth mode?
"This system I have in mind, how would you like something that can never crash, is immune to weather, it goes three or four times faster than the bullet train ... it goes an average speed of twice what an aircraft would do.
"You would go from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes. It would cost you much less than an air ticket than any other mode of transport.
"I think we could actually make it self-powering if you put solar panels on it, you generate more power than you would consume in the system. There's a way to store the power so it would run 24/7 without using batteries. Yes, this is possible, absolutely."
He hasn't yet committed to actually "executing it" in the near future, telling a Tesla Motors investor call last week that he's too busy. But he did say he may step in if nothing happens within a few years.
Well, here's hoping it goes ahead!
