Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
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Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#2Hyperloop sounds like a bunch of hype. High speed trains are a thing already, as are MagLev trains, as are trains that go through tunnels, called the subway. The lack of their success in the US market has little to do with the technology itself and more to do with politics.
The addition of vacuum tunnels does little to alleviate the administrative / financial challenges of our struggling train systems. Vacuum has few practical upsides and a lot of downsides such as safety, reliability, and cost. It boggles the mind as to how investors are falling for this idea.
But perhaps marketing and branding are where Musk/Bronson's talents lie when it comes to high-speed rail? Please tell me otherwise, as I would love to see better rail infrastructure in the US.
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#3I'm very skeptical of this concept because of how difficult it is to build and maintain a massive vacuum chamber that will experience that level of stress over its lifespan. As far as I know, the largest vacuum chamber in the world by volume is the SPF at NASA [1], which is only 37x30m in size. Building such a vessel hundreds of kilometres in length that would have bullet trains going through it multiple times a day seems dangerous and impractical. A single leak anywhere in the tube could potentially cause explosive pressurization [2].
Maybe the Hyperloop is this century's Monorail...
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#4When I think of WV, the main thing I think of is opioid addiction. Other than that and coal mining I don't really know anything else about WV. So, why WV?
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#5Country roads was a nice song.
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#6When I think of WV, the main thing I think of is opioid addiction. Other than that and coal mining I don't really know anything else about WV. So, why WV?
West Virginia has cheap land, lots of undeveloped areas, and republican government. Way less bs and regulation. More freedom.
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#7Hyperloop sounds like a bunch of hype. High speed trains are a thing already, as are MagLev trains, as are trains that go through tunnels, called the subway. The lack of their success in the US market has little to do with the technology itself and more to do with politics. The addition of vacuum tunnels does little to alleviate the administrative / financial challenges of our struggling train systems. Vacuum has few…
One way to overcome politics is to make something sound so cool that the public is generally on board with it.
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#8Hyperloop sounds like a bunch of hype. High speed trains are a thing already, as are MagLev trains, as are trains that go through tunnels, called the subway. The lack of their success in the US market has little to do with the technology itself and more to do with politics. The addition of vacuum tunnels does little to alleviate the administrative / financial challenges of our struggling train systems. Vacuum has few…
I think the goal with the vacuum is to get to even higher speed rail which can compete with airplanes for speed and convenience. The thought being, rail has to be clearly better than flying for it work.
That said vacuum comes with many technical issues.
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#9Country roads was a nice song.
In 50 years, we'll have AI hologram John Denver debut his new single, "Country Tubes".
Re: Virgin Hyperloop picks West Virginia to test high-speed transport system
#10When I think of WV, the main thing I think of is opioid addiction. Other than that and coal mining I don't really know anything else about WV. So, why WV?
Being desperate for outside investment makes them relatively credulous.