The future of travel? For hyperloop, it’s one step forward, two steps back
Al Jazeera
Proponents of the futuristic concept say it could slash travel times between cities, but doubts about feasibility remain.
Taipei, Taiwan – Imagine boarding a train that glides above the ground at supersonic speeds.
Speeding through an airless tube using powerful electro-magnets, passengers could travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles, London to Paris, or Basra to Baghdad in less than an hour.
The train would be potentially greener than existing modes of transportation, too, using electricity that could be drawn from renewable energy sources.
While it may sound like the stuff of science fiction, scientists and engineers in multiple countries are working on making the concept of the so-called hyperloop a reality.
Hyperloop proponents, who include tech billionaire Elon Musk, have announced a series of recent breakthroughs in progressing the technology, whose development has been plagued by commercial setbacks and doubts about its feasibility.
