Second Hyperloop Track Planned in France
A second company is planning to build a Hyperloop test track in France. Transpod wants to spend €21 million ($23.99 million) to build the world’s longest Hyperloop track in Droux in the Haute-Vienne region.
The track would be three kilometers (1.9) miles long, The Star reported. That will reportedly be longer than Virgin Hyperloop One’s facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada, and the test tube HyperloopTT is constructing in Toulouse.
Canadian-based Transpod claims to have raised $57.11 million (€50 million) from unidentified investors in North America and Italy. There is apparently no connection between Transpod and HyperloopTT or Hyperloop One.
Transpod reportedly has offices in Toronto, Bari, Italy and Toulouse. The company claims to have a network of global partners that supposedly include the Italian aircraft maker Blackshape, Italian space company Sitael, construction firm Liebherr, design and engineering software firm Autodesk, Inc., the Italian rail services firm MERMEC, and REC Architecture.
Transpod is a serious Hyperloop company
Transpod apparently has some serious corporate backing and real money behind it. Its plans include offering passenger and freight transportation.
Transpod’s website lists several potential routes include one between Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto. Transpod’s website lists several potential routes include one between Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto.
Interestingly, there are no Italian routes proposed. There is a section of Hyperloop that connects Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Montpellier in France.
Other routes include Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal, New York-Boston, and Orlando Miami. There are also plans for Mexico City-Leon-Guadalajara, and Bangkok Kuala-Lumpur Hyperloops.
Testing, construction and opening dates for the Droux track are not available. Transpod has only applied for a permit to build the facility.
If built, Transpod’s facility would be the fifth Hyperloop track in the known. The others include the Virgin Hyperloop One facility in North Las Vegas, the HyperloopTT track in Toulouse, Haardt Mobility’s track in the Netherlands, and the track at the SpaceX factory in Hawthorne, California.
Transpod Plans 1,000 Kilometer Hyperloop by 2030
Transpod cofounder Sebastien Gendron wants to have a commercial Hyperloop operating at speeds of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) an hour by 2030. That at least sounds realistic which is refreshing from a Hyperloop promoter.
Europe’s Hyperloop race is definitely heating up. Transpod’s announcement came just a week after Virgin Hyperloop One unveiled plans for a $500 million ($437.73 million) manufacturing facility in Spain.
The next and important step is to have Hyperloop pods haul freight and people. So far none of the operators has achieved that goal. Without that important step, Hyperloop is just an interesting concept.
