Innovative ultra-high-speed ground transportation to connect cities and address climate change.
RAYMOND B. KANIU
Hyperloop trains were merely a concept a few years ago when Elon Musk introduced the idea to the world.
With the latest infrastructure financing to make it a reality, it appears that we will witness a hyperloop rail transit system soon. Innovation in transit tech has taken off.
For example, Europe’s largest railway infrastructure project England’s High Speed Bullet 2 train line - gave us a complex coupling system called dynamics of coupled systems in high-speed trains (DCSHT). Japan gave us the Chuo Shinkansen high-speed magnetic levitation (maglev) line. Germany gave us the Alstom Coradia iLint hydrogen-powered rail line, which recently covered 1,175 kilometers without refueling the hydrogen tank.
Canada will soon boast the 1000kph (620mph) hyperloop electic tube system which is a mix between a train and a jet developed by the Toronto-based TransPod in collaboration with other institutions and international partners.
Aptly named the FluxJet, it will be capable of transporting 54 passengers and will be part of a larger network system, the TransPod line.
TransPod Inc’s hyperloop FluxJet will be a ‘first-in-the-world, industry-defining innovation’ that will run between Canada's Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta cities.
It is a move that comes in the wake of climate change action incentives and increasing energy costs. The project has secured funding and confidence from stakeholders to break ground by 2027 creating up to 140,000 jobs and adds $19.2B to the region’s GDP.
According to the company behind the project, it could cost passengers approximately 44 percent less than a plane ticket to travel the corridor and will reduce CO2 emissions by 636,000 tones per year.
Its success could trigger similar moves where the technology can be applied collectively.
Here’s a demonstration of the technology behind the innovative project
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