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Elon Musk’s Hyperloop dream has taken a step towards reality after a first successful public test.
In a demonstration that lasted just seconds, Hyperloop One tested its propulsion system that saw a block of aluminium zip across a short stretch of what looked like railroad tracks at a desert in Las Vegas.
The sled accelerated at 2.5G and reached a top speed of 116mph in two seconds while travelling along a 1,000-metre track.
But developers still have a long way to go before building a full-scale system – consisting of hundreds of miles of tubes – that will eventually run at around 700mph.
The idea for Hyperloop – a super-fast transport system – has long been a dream of billionaire tech entrepreneur Musk, the founder and CEO of Space X and Tesla Motors.
Although Musk came up with the concept for Hyperloop, he didn’t want to build it himself and open-sourced the technology to allow other firms to develop the idea.
The California-based company says a full-scale, full-speed test of its technology could come by the end of this year.
Should the concept become a reality, the above-ground transport network would allow people to travel at supersonic speed.
Hyperloop is basically a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum.
The theory is that the tube transportation system will work using magnetic levitation (Maglev) technology that has been developed by Lawrence Livermore National Labs.
Passive magnetic levitation will create low pressure within the tubes and allow the train to float above the track while travelling through vacuum at a speed close to 760mph.
Developers say it could whisk people from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes and could be as revolutionary to transportation as the internet has been to society at large.
The test comes after Hyperloop One announced that it was tweaking its name from Hyperloop Technologies and had closed an $80 million (£55m) round of financing.
