Transportation systems Record for longest Hyperloop test journey broken

A consortium of scientists from EPFL Lausanne, the Vaud School of Engineering and Business (HEIG-VD) and the start-up Swisspod has completed the longest journey in a vacuum capsule in Europe's first operational Hyperloop test facility.

A distance of 11.8 kilometers was covered and a maximum speed of 40.7 kilometers per hour was reached, as the EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) announced on Tuesday. In a full-size system, this would correspond to a distance of 141.6 kilometers and a speed of up to 488.2 kilometers per hour.

This is a new record for a Hyperloop route. It was achieved with a completely autonomous capsule in terms of navigation, energy supply and propulsion, as the EPFL explained. The infrastructure does not transmit any energy to the capsule.

The record was set in the Hyperloop test facility at EPFL in Lausanne. This state-of-the-art structure, which is designed as a circular loop track, supports rapid prototyping and the testing of various technologies required for the Hyperloop, according to the press release. The infrastructure has a diameter of 40 centimetres and a circumference of 125.6 meters.

According to EPFL, the so-called Limitless project aims to create a sustainable and efficient future transportation system based on a lightweight infrastructure. According to Swisspod, the Hyperloop system should one day be able to transport passengers and freight from Geneva to Zurich in just 17 minutes.

SDA