Two of the seven Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, are on their way to building the world’s first hyperloop mass transit system linking their two capital cities to reduce a two-hour journey between them to just 12 minutes.
If you’re wondering what a hyperloop is, it’s essentially a massive tube through which pods (think of train carriages, only smaller and not hitched to one another) can travel between two or more points. Inside the tube, the air pressure will only be a fraction of the amount of what it is just out and about in the regular environment.
This allows for friction to be reduced, and thus the pods have the ability to move faster through the tube. The pods won’t be connected to any tracks – rather they will ride on a cushion of air. In fact, the proposed Abu Dhabi-Dubai hyperloop will see pods traveling at an astounding 760mph.
While it’s still on the drawing board a feasibility study for the new mass transit system is being conducted by Hyperloop One, the world’s foremost company developing the technology, in conjunction with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority.
Next year, a full-scale prototype of the hyperloop system will be constructed in the Nevada desert, USA, to see if the concept translates well into reality.
View how the system works here:
Content and Image Source: TechCrunch
