Could Dubai be the first to jump on Hyperloop's 'crazy fast' global shipping train?

Published August 16, 2016
Journalists and guests look over tubes following a propulsion open-air test at Hyperloop One in North Las Vegas, Nevada, US, May 2016 ─ Reuters
Journalists and guests look over tubes following a propulsion open-air test at Hyperloop One in North Las Vegas, Nevada, US, May 2016 ─ Reuters

Startup Hyperloop One may build a 'crazy fast' transportation system at Dubai's Jebel Ali port if economic and feasibility studies are favourable, TechCrunch reported.

Hyperloop, a brainchild of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, will eventually travel faster than a speeding airplane at 700 miles per hour and has the ability to move humans and cargo all over the world in less than 24 hours.

A silver-colored sled and recovery vehicle are displayed on a test track at Hyperloop One in North Las Vegas, Nevada, US May, 2016 ─ Reuters
A silver-colored sled and recovery vehicle are displayed on a test track at Hyperloop One in North Las Vegas, Nevada, US May, 2016 ─ Reuters

CEO Rob Lloyd said Dubai has "got the infrastructure, regulatory movement and kind of capital in place needed to build it already", and if plans to build the system are successful, the city may be the first place to build a Hyperloop for commercial use.

Hyperloop is defined as an autonomous vehicle that uses electric propulsion to accelerate a slightly elevated passenger or cargo vehicle above a track, gliding it through a tube in a low-pressure environment over long distances. According to the startup, the system will "eliminate direct emissions, noise, delay, weather concerns and pilot error".

The startup is conducting economic and feasibility studies in the region with DP World ─ the third largest supply chain and terminals operator in the world ─ to determine the benefits Hyperloop could bring to the region in terms of trade and at what investment cost.

A Hyperloop test track in the Nevada desert has provided positive results so far. Hyperloop One is currently also conducting feasibility studies in Russia, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California.

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