Zaragoza chosen as Spain's first stop for futuristic Hyperloop
Zaragoza has been chosen as Spain’s first stop on an ambitious
means of transport known as the ‘Hyperloop’ which promises 1,000km/h travel from the northern Spanish city to Berlin in under three hours.
The northern Spanish city of Zaragoza has been chosen as Spain’s first stop on a high-speed ‘Hyperloop’ that could connect Aragon's capital with cities across Spain and the rest of Europe in a matter of minutes or hours.
An idea promoted by Tesla founder Elon Musk in 2012, hyperloop technology is essentially a magnetic train system that travels through tubes and is reportedly capable of reaching speeds of up to 1,000 km/h, more than three times faster than Spain’s high-speed AVE train network.
The futuristic travel project has been controversial over the years, with Musk and British billionaire Richard Branson both interested in the technology, but it has been written off by many as overly ambitious and impossible to achieve.
It’s been a decade and Elon Musk is still pushing Hyperloop fantasies to dampen support for high-speed rail, an actually existing solution that works perfectly well in many countries around the world. pic.twitter.com/JorKWkVN9y
— Paris Marx (@parismarx) September 18, 2022
Nevertheless, since 2012, the project has gained traction in Europe, and the European Hyperloop Center (EHC) have recently announced plans to include Zaragoza as a stop on the Hyperloop, alongside European capitals such as Amsterdam and Berlin.
The Hardt Hyperloop company, one of the leading companies involved in the development, and Zaragoza City Council have signed an agreement to bring the transport technology to northern Spain.
Hardt Hyperloop and other partners in the project - including the Dutch government and private companies - chose Zaragoza over other Spanish cities because of its commitment to " technology, innovation and sustainability.”
High speed travel
With speeds of between 700 and 1,000 km/h, the Hyperloop would allow passengers to travel from Madrid to Barcelona in 40 minutes, or to go from one end of the Iberian Peninsula to the other in just over an hour.
European capitals such as Berlin could be reached in less than three hours from Zaragoza.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmTjjzer3FE&t=1s
Hyperloop in Zaragoza
Jorge Azcón, Mayor of Zaragoza, explained in the city’s Center for Art and Technology that the Hyperloop also presents great possibilities for business. “Our companies will be able to reach a radius of 300 kilometres in just 30 minutes and will be able to move up to 10,000 pallets per hour,” he said.
It is hoped that the Hyperloop will also benefits trade and logistics, as well as travel, and the project itself could create hundreds of jobs in the Zaragoza area.
Other benefits included “Increased safety by reducing road transport, reducing energy consumption, ending greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating noise and vibrations,” Azcón explained.
Stan de Caluwe, head of the project at Hardt Hyperloop, also appeared in Zaragoza and stated that he hoped the Hyperloop "could replace a large part of the continental air traffic, both passengers and goods, with another sustainable model.”
How does it work?
Hyperloop technology is different to high-speed trains in that it does not use tracks or run on fossil fuels, but rather in tubes where sustainably powered engines propel pressurised capsules around the hyperloop using magnets. As there is no friction caused by a track, the system uses very little energy, able to lift the weight of a car at the same energy cost as a normal light bulb.
The Hyperloop promises to not only make travel significantly faster and more efficient, but to do so in an environmentally friendly way.
It is worth noting, however, that the project is still in the early stages of developments. Azcón said he was convinced that the Hyperloop concept will be a reality in Zaragoza in the next "10 or 15 years.”
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The northern Spanish city of Zaragoza has been chosen as Spain’s first stop on a high-speed ‘Hyperloop’ that could connect Aragon's capital with cities across Spain and the rest of Europe in a matter of minutes or hours.
An idea promoted by Tesla founder Elon Musk in 2012, hyperloop technology is essentially a magnetic train system that travels through tubes and is reportedly capable of reaching speeds of up to 1,000 km/h, more than three times faster than Spain’s high-speed AVE train network.
The futuristic travel project has been controversial over the years, with Musk and British billionaire Richard Branson both interested in the technology, but it has been written off by many as overly ambitious and impossible to achieve.
It’s been a decade and Elon Musk is still pushing Hyperloop fantasies to dampen support for high-speed rail, an actually existing solution that works perfectly well in many countries around the world. pic.twitter.com/JorKWkVN9y
— Paris Marx (@parismarx) September 18, 2022
Nevertheless, since 2012, the project has gained traction in Europe, and the European Hyperloop Center (EHC) have recently announced plans to include Zaragoza as a stop on the Hyperloop, alongside European capitals such as Amsterdam and Berlin.
The Hardt Hyperloop company, one of the leading companies involved in the development, and Zaragoza City Council have signed an agreement to bring the transport technology to northern Spain.
Hardt Hyperloop and other partners in the project - including the Dutch government and private companies - chose Zaragoza over other Spanish cities because of its commitment to " technology, innovation and sustainability.”
High speed travel
With speeds of between 700 and 1,000 km/h, the Hyperloop would allow passengers to travel from Madrid to Barcelona in 40 minutes, or to go from one end of the Iberian Peninsula to the other in just over an hour.
European capitals such as Berlin could be reached in less than three hours from Zaragoza.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmTjjzer3FE&t=1s
Hyperloop in Zaragoza
Jorge Azcón, Mayor of Zaragoza, explained in the city’s Center for Art and Technology that the Hyperloop also presents great possibilities for business. “Our companies will be able to reach a radius of 300 kilometres in just 30 minutes and will be able to move up to 10,000 pallets per hour,” he said.
It is hoped that the Hyperloop will also benefits trade and logistics, as well as travel, and the project itself could create hundreds of jobs in the Zaragoza area.
Other benefits included “Increased safety by reducing road transport, reducing energy consumption, ending greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating noise and vibrations,” Azcón explained.
Stan de Caluwe, head of the project at Hardt Hyperloop, also appeared in Zaragoza and stated that he hoped the Hyperloop "could replace a large part of the continental air traffic, both passengers and goods, with another sustainable model.”
How does it work?
Hyperloop technology is different to high-speed trains in that it does not use tracks or run on fossil fuels, but rather in tubes where sustainably powered engines propel pressurised capsules around the hyperloop using magnets. As there is no friction caused by a track, the system uses very little energy, able to lift the weight of a car at the same energy cost as a normal light bulb.
The Hyperloop promises to not only make travel significantly faster and more efficient, but to do so in an environmentally friendly way.
It is worth noting, however, that the project is still in the early stages of developments. Azcón said he was convinced that the Hyperloop concept will be a reality in Zaragoza in the next "10 or 15 years.”
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