【未來交通進行式：奇異膠囊】
雖然 #超迴路列車（Hyperloop）早就受眾人矚目，但美國加州超迴路運輸科技公司（HyperloopTT）打造的這個流線型「膠囊車廂」，終於證明 #超高速旅行 將要成為現實。它為穿梭都市的旅程設下 #時速1223公里 的標竿，比一般商用客機還快。
長30公尺的全尺寸車廂，目前正在法國土魯斯長320公尺的軌道準備測試。如果一切順利，明年就會進入首次載客試驗，並以2022年建立第一條商用系統為目標，營運地點可能選在阿布達比。
超迴路膠囊車廂透過在密封的管道內滑行而達到高速，管內以真空泵抽走大部分空氣，以便減少阻力。車廂會利用磁鐵稍微懸浮在軌道上，降低移動時的摩擦力，並由同樣使用磁力的線性感應馬達推動。
超迴路列車號稱是100多年來第一個新的交通工具形態，但仍需克服相當艱鉅的科技挑戰，例如長距離保持管內真空的複雜設計等等。即使如此，現在有許多工程設計人才投入研發，許多公司已開始設計自己的系統，包括維珍超迴路1號（Virgin Hyperloop One）、哈德超迴路（Hardt Hyperloop）和TransPod等。
文／摘自《BBC知識》國際中文版100期，更多資訊請見本期雜誌。
****8.20
很好的全球各國發展簡介。
可以用"Japan"和 "China"等自搜索各國"雄心與夢想"。
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A Hyperloop is a proposed mode of passenger and freight transportation, first used to describe an open-source vactrain design released by a joint team from Tesla and SpaceX.[1] Hyperloop is a sealed tube or system of tubes with low air pressure through which a pod may travel substantially free of air resistance or friction.[2] The Hyperloop could convey people or objects at airline or hypersonic speeds while being very energy efficient.[2] This would drastically reduce travel times versus trains as well as planes[2] over distances of under approximately 1,500 kilometres (930 miles).[3]
Elon Musk first publicly mentioned the Hyperloop in 2012.[4] His initial concept incorporated reduced-pressure tubes in which pressurized capsules ride on air bearings driven by linear induction motors and axial compressors.[5]
The Hyperloop Alpha concept was first published in August 2013, proposing and examining a route running from the Los Angeles region to the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly following the Interstate 5 corridor. The Hyperloop Genesis paper conceived of a hyperloop system that would propel passengers along the 350-mile (560 km) route at a speed of 760 mph (1,200 km/h), allowing for a travel time of 35 minutes, which is considerably faster than current rail or air travel times. Preliminary cost estimates for this LA–SF suggested route were included in the white paper—US$6 billion for a passenger-only version, and US$7.5 billion for a somewhat larger-diameter version transporting passengers and vehicles.[1] (Transportation analysts had doubts that the system could be constructed on that budget. Some analysts claimed that the Hyperloop would be several billion dollars overbudget, taking into consideration construction, development, and operation costs.)[6][7][8]
The Hyperloop concept has been explicitly "open-sourced" by Musk and SpaceX, and others have been encouraged to take the ideas and further develop them. To that end, a few companies have been formed, and several interdisciplinary student-led teams are working to advance the technology.[9] SpaceX built an approximately 1-mile-long (1.6 km) subscale track for its pod design competition at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California.[10]
Currently, aside from Sea-Tac airport IAF link in Greater Seattle, India is officially pursuing the hyperloop technology for Pune-Mumbai corridor.[11]
