South Korea will begin construction of Hyperloop in 2018

Engineers from South Korea will develop and begin construction of the world's first line of the Hyperloop transport system in 2018.

Hyperloop is a vacuum train project that was proposed by entrepreneur Ilon Mask in 2012-2013. The system assumes the movement of cargo-and-passenger capsules through a pipeline with a low pressure of 9.4 kilopascals. Due to the low air resistance, the speed of the capsules, theoretically, should reach 1.2 thousand kilometers per hour. However, in practice, the indicator is not expected to reach thousands of kilometers per hour. The preparation of the test site of the system became known in 2015. Originally to complete the construction was planned in the summer of 2016 - then the first stage of the competition among developers was to pass.

The first races of models on the Hyperloop test site were held in January 2017. At the same time it was reported that South Korea intends to build its own version of the system. The engineers intended to consider the possibilities for implementing the project for three years. Now the company is involved in the work of the American company Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT). Together with it and government organizations, the Korean Institute of Civil Engineering and Construction Technologies (KICT) and the University of Hania will build the system in four years. The contract provides for the supply of research materials and obtaining a license for infrastructure facilities. Start the construction of the site is planned in 2018.

The new system will be called HyperTube Express. In the future, it will connect the large settlements of South Korea: for example, the inhabitants of the country will be able to get from Seoul to Busan (more than 300 kilometers) within 20 minutes. In May 2016, it was also learned that HTT had entered into an agreement to develop a Hyperloop site in Central Europe with the Slovak government. In accordance with the agreement, the project envisages the design of a high-speed line along the routes Bratislava-Budapest and Bratislava-Vienna. In March 2017, the company began to create the first full-scale capsule for the system. With a length of 30 meters and a diameter of 2.7 meters, it will be designed for transportation of 28-40 people.

In addition to HTT, other organizations are involved in the development of the project. So, earlier the American company Hyperloop One for the first time presented the concept of an autonomous transport system that does not provide a fork. It is assumed that the capsule Hyperloop One can accommodate six to eight passengers who can book a trip using a mobile application and book a seat in the cabin. In this case, the capsules will also be used as unmanned taxis outside their own infrastructure. The first section of the Hyperloop One line is planned to be built in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi route.

The development of HyperTube Express is written by TechCrunch.