Hyperloop Test Track Opens in Netherlands
One of the teams that took part in Elon Musk’s pod contest is building a Hyperloop test track in the Netherlands. The team from the Technical University of Delft has formed a company called Hardt Global Mobility.
Hardt has raised €600,000 ($675,000) to build a high-speed Hyperloop test line at the Technical University of Delft by 2019, Reuters reported. Hart has attracted big money investment from the Dutch National Railroad NS and the construction company BAM.
The team from Delft won Musk’s Hyperloop pod contest in January. Now one of its members Tim Houter has big plans for his Hardt Global Mobility.
Construction of Paris to Amsterdam Hyperloop could begin in 2021
Houter would like break ground on a Paris to Amsterdam commercial Hyperloop line by 2021, Reuters reported. That is just five years from now and the technology is largely unproven.
It looks as if there is a major new player in the Hyperloop business. Hardt sounds as if it is in a position to give Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) a run for their money.
HTT has Mysterious New Partner
Hardt’s main European rival HTT might have a partner with a major player in the shipping industry, Lloyds-List reported.
HTT Co-Chair Bibop Griesta told Lloyds-List that he expects to sign the deal after Ramadan which ends on June 24. That means we should know the identity of the mysterious partner by the end of June.
HTT is also negotiating deals with what Griesta called a number of household names. None of the “household names” were identified. The crowdfunded HTT has become a serious Hyperloop player with a deal with the European aviation giant AirBus and test facility in Toulouse, France.
Griesta predicted that the combination of Hyperloop and cargo containers will make today’s port facilities obsolete. He thinks ports will be forced to adopt Hyperloop to survive.
“They [containers] can fit in the tube and it is possible,” Griesta said. “What the port industry needs is not just speed to market, but reliability and this is what Hyperloop can offer.”
