Hyperloop Construction planned in Abu Dhabi and Brazil
A site for the world’s “first commercial Hyperloop” has been chosen on the border of Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
HyperloopTT hopes to have a 10-kilometer (6.214-mile) long Hyperloop up and running in time for Expo2020 a world’s fair event planned in Dubai, a press release indicates.
The Hyperloop is supposed to be part of a system that will serve the entire UAE, and it will be near Al Maktoum International Airport and a housing development called Alghadeer. Alghadeer is supposed to be a sort of “streetcar suburb” for the 21st Century.
Streetcar suburbs were real estate developments built along light rail lines, and they were common in North America before World War II. Many of America’s most famous communities; including Hollywood and Santa Monica, California, began as “streetcar suburbs.”
Commercial Hyperloop could be Operating within Two Years
“With regulatory support, we hope the first section will be operational in time for Expo2020,” HyperloopTT Chairman Bishop Gresta said. That is a very ambitious goal because Expo2020 is scheduled to open on 20 October 2020, a little over a year and a half or less than 900 days away.
The project is ambitious because no human being has actually ridden in a Hyperloop vehicle. Nor does HyperloopTT have an operating Hyperloop test system, although it is building a full-sized one in Toulouse, France, and constructing a pod in Spain.
HyperloopTT Opens Second Research Facility
HyperloopTT, formerly Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, will open its second research and development facility in Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The R&D center known as XO Square will sit on 5.4 acres and contain a fabrication lab, an incubator for startups and space for researchers from other companies, governments and universities, a press release indicates. XO Square will be the first HyperloopTT project in the Western hemisphere to become reality. A proposed Hyperloop city in California’s Central Valley is still on the drawing board.
The state government of Minas Gerais and the State of Minas Gerais research foundation have invested $7.85 million in a public-private partnership to make XO Square a reality. The Municipality of Contagem and the Federation of Industries of the State of Mias Gerais are also participating in the XO Square project.
The press release did not say what work will be done in Contagem but logical uses of the site will be to build Hyperloop tubes and construct Hyperloop pods. A long-term goal might be the construction of a Hyperloop test track.
It looks as if HyperloopTT might be the leader in the race to build a commercial Hyperloop. Its competitors; Hardtt Global Mobility, Virgin Hyperloop One, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the Boring Company will have a lot of catching up to do if the press release claims come true.
