CLOSE AD ×

Virgin Hyperloop One debuts prototype travel pods in Dubai

Pod Challenge

Virgin Hyperloop One debuts prototype travel pods in Dubai

Virgin Hyperloop One pod prototype (Courtesy Instagram/hyperloopone)

What if you could cut the travel time between two cities from a an hour’s drive to less than 15 minutes? That’s Virgin Hyperloop One’s plan for a high-tech, high-speed autonomous transportation system that could one day link Abu Dhabi and Dubai. And now, with the unveiling of a prototype design for the pods that will carry commuters at nearly the speed of sound through low-pressure tubes using magnetic levitation, the plan is inching closer to reality.

The first hyperloop pod prototype, created by Virgin Hyperloop One in conjunction with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), debuted last week as part of UAE Innovation Month, and it gives travelers the first sense of what a trip on the future ‘loop might really look like. And, no surprise given that Richard Branson is a major investor, the vibe is very Virgin: sleek, modern, and bathed in moody colored light.

Virgin Hyperloop One pod prototype (Courtesy Instagram/hyperloopone)

The dream of hyperloop transportation has been one of tech’s most hyped ideas since Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk proposed the idea with a white paper back in 2013. While the billionaire entrepreneur is not involved with this particular project, Virgin Hyperloop One has big plans of its own for the developing technology, including other on-demand travel networks linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Mumbai to Pune. Along with its high speed, the hyperloop is contained underground and completely autonomous, which may be a major factor in reaching the RTA’s goal of making as many as 25 percent of travel in Dubai driverless by 2030.

The Dubai-Abu Dhabi hyperloop is expected to one day transport up to 10,000 people per hour between the two Emirati hubs, which are located about 75 miles apart, when it opens to the public, which could be as early as 2020. The Emirati hyperloop will be anchored by a B.I.G.–designed transport hub, making it clear that even when you take time out of the travel equation, things can still still look mighty futuristic.


CLOSE AD ×