Hyperloop: the ultra-fast train has passed its first tests with passengers

The innovation of the day is a notable advance on the hyperloop, the ultra-fast train that could make Paris-Marseille in 40 minutes.

It has just passed its first tests with passengers.

This is notable, because there are still six or seven years, the hyperloop was only a hazy idea of ​​a few enlightened.

But today, it works!

There are several projects all over the world.

In particular a test track near Toulouse.

But it was in the United States, in the Nevada desert, that this first test with passengers took place.

This is the Virgin Hyperloop project.

And this is the first time that we have been able to catapult humans at full speed into an evacuated tube.

What speed have they reached?

160 km / h only.

It's true that it doesn't seem like much, compared to the theoretical 1,200 km / h of the hyperloop.

But the track was only 500 meters long.

If they had had more room, they estimate that they could have reached 1,000 km / h, the speed of an airplane.

The main objective was to test the impact of acceleration and braking on people who had not received any particular training.

It's a bit like at the beginning of the railroad: trains did not exceed 45 km / h, but we were already afraid of not surviving at such speeds.

There, everything went well.

The passengers did not disintegrate.

So marketing will start soon?

No Unfortunately.

There are still many technical challenges to overcome.

Safety for example: at more than 1,000 km / h, there is no room for error.

Then it works well in a straight line.

But it takes 900 kilometers to turn 90 °.

Finally, there is the issue of cost.

Today, we are talking about 80 to 100 million euros per km.

This is four to five times more than a traditional railway line.

So the TGV still seems to have a bright future ahead of it.