Elon Musk’s radical plan to let people travel in 760 mph tubes

Daily Mail ^ | Feb 2015 | Ellie Zolfagharifard and Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com

[Baynative]

Elon Musk's 'Hyperloop' was dismissed as a pipe dream that would never get off the ground.

But now the billionaire's plans to shoot capsules of passengers along a tube at around the speed of sound may launch as soon as next year.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has secured land for the first full-scale Hyperloop with a 2016 launch in the California town of Quay Valley.

[Baynative]

Capsules carrying six to eight people would depart every 30 seconds, with tickets costing around ($20) £13 each way.

In his proposal released online, Musk wrote: 'Short of figuring out real teleportation, which would of course be awesome (someone please do this), the only option for super-fast travel is to build a tube over or under the ground that contains a special environment.'

The proposed route of the first full-scale Hyperloop follows Interstate 5, which runs through the agriculture-rich Central Valley in California. It would take seven to ten years to build.

Musk put the price tag at around $6.2 billion (£4 billion_ but pointed out that that is around one-tenth of the projected cost of a high-speed rail system that California has been planning to build.

[Moonman62]

Musk put the price tag at around $6.2 billion (£4 billion_ but pointed out that that is around one-tenth of the projected cost of a high-speed rail system that California has been planning to build.

...

The politicians won’t go for that. They like big construction projects that will them and their friends rich.

[GeronL]

As long as Elon pays for it

[denydenydeny]

Reading between the lines you can tell that Musk expects us to pay for it all.

[2ndDivisionVet]

I learned something weird in my years spent working in intelligence. If the government, media or business start telling you about some wild, fantastical invention or project, they’ve already had it for 20 or 30 years.

[RegulatorCountry]

I’m trying to envision what would happen inside that tube at 760 mph when a sizable earthquake hits.

[SpaceBar]

Musk’s brilliance lies in getting others to foot the bill.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Once again, Family Guy is ahead of the curve. On the “Road to the Multiverse” episode, Stewie and Brian travels in this very type of mode.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Good point.

[cripplecreek]

[Jess Kitting]

If the government, media or business start telling you about some wild, fantastical invention or project, they’ve already had it for 20 or 30 years.

I've heard that too. How does the government manage to keep technology a secret for so long?

And, if they can keep things like this secret, what else are they keeping from us?

[4rcane]

I’ve no doubt that it cost closer to $6 billion if done by the private sector than the $100+ billion that government projected it will cost

[knarf]

I don't care how slowly you start off ... getting beyond 300 MPH would put stresses on an average body it could not process .... and then y'gutt'a slow down and come to a stop

Does anyone REALLY think you're gonn'a step out in front of the Eiffel Tower in 1/2 hour and get to that sales meeting bright and chipper with your presentation ?

Jet lag does not begin to desribe it.

[SpaceBar]

What boy growing up in the 50’s and 60’s reading Popular Science didn’t think about something like this years ago? I know I did. In fact, you could probably find a nearly exact artist’s rendition in an old PS magazine from many decades ago. Tired old ideas get a new lease on life when you throw in the free money of socialism. Musk will impress me when he makes a profit on private capital without government ‘incentives’ and tax breaks.

[W.]

Since you mentioned that, I can post the term ‘comingled remains’ twice in one day! Heh...

[jonascord]

Why do I know that Musk isn’t going to spend his own money to fund this new boondoggle? You know, naturally, that passenger rail service has never shown a profit? I’m curious to know why he’s pushing such a complex system, rather than just pushing for a Maglev track on pylons?

[Rodamala]

I learned something weird in my years spent working in intelligence. If the government, media or business start telling you about some wild, fantastical invention or project, they’ve already had it for 20 or 30 years.

Try 146 years.

[Moonman62]

Good quote from Musk and an example of why he’s a fun guy to watch:

‘I originally started thinking about [Hyperloop] when I read about California’s high-speed rail project which was somewhat disappointing,’ he told a Google Hangout with Richard Branson last week.

‘It’s actually worse than taking the plane. I get a little sad when things are not getting better in the future.

‘Another example would be like the Concorde being retired and the fact there is no supersonic passenger transport. I think that is sad. You want the future to be better than the past, or at least I do.’

[Moonman62]

Reading between the lines you can tell that Musk expects us to pay for it all.

...

In read the lines, and what he’s saying is he’d like to see a better system for much less money than what the government is planning.

[GeronL]

bump