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Virgin Unveils 760 MPH Hyperloop One Pod in Dubai

An hour and a half trip by car between Dubai and Abu Dhabi could be cut to under 12 minutes shortly, thanks to the implementation of Virgin’s Hyperloop One transport system in the Arab country.
Hyperloop One Dubai pod 3 photos
Photo: thenational.ae
Hyperloop One Dubai podHyperloop One Dubai pod
Although the full-scale use of the hyperloop is still years away, Hyperloop One, together with the Road Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai unveiled at the UAE Innovation Week the first full-size pod that will be used for the system.

Traveling at speeds of up to 760 mph (1,200 km/h) through a vacuum tube, the pod will be capable of transporting up to 19 people (five in the Gold Class and 14 in the Silver Class) in luxurious conditions, with leather seats and high definition screens.

Expected to become operational sometime in 2020, the Dubai Hyperloop would link Dubai to Abu Dhabi in a 12 minutes ride on a pod, instead of the regular 90 minutes travel by car.

“When introduced in future, the hyperloop technology will impact the town planning and the availability of parking spaces,” said Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the RTA in a statement cited by Daily Mail.

“It will revolutionize people mobility between various destinations in the city, logistical hubs like airports and ports, and shipping patterns.”

A week ago, Richard Branson, who owns Hyperloop One, announced the signing of a Framework Agreement with the Indian state of Maharashtra for the construction of a hyperloop route that would link central Pune and Mumbai.

A hyperloop system has been previewed in sci-fi literature for almost a century, but the current drives forward are being made thanks to Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Alpha paper.

In essence, hyperloop is transport means that operates in a vacuum, using capsules to shoot passengers and cargo through enclosed tubes. Acceleration is achieved by electric propulsion, while the capsule floats above the tracks using magnetic levitation.

In theory, the Hyperloop system would help achieve speeds up to three times higher than the current high-speed rail trains.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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