Topic: Virgin Hyperloop unveils new pod concept

[LiamG]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58317104

Quite cool i reckon, Be interesting to see if actually takes off and becomes a mode of transport or if it will just be a gimmick

[TepidT2O]

Why not just use electric trains?

[Elmo!]

Narrator: "It was a gimmick"

[TepidT2O]

The energy consumption to maintain that vacuum would be enormous.

[thaddeus]

Narrator: "It was a gimmick"

"But there are still questions about its practicality and how financially it can build the extensive network of evacuated tube lines while keeping costs competitive with rail and air fares.

Virgin Hyperloop said the answer was leveraging 'technological developments' to keep costs down and returns high, and drawing on the public purse.".  Oh good.

Sorry to be joyless to a story of innovation but Virgin can just fuck off as far as I'm concerned.

[Elmo!]

It's about time we had a Branson/Musk type PR release about a new hyperloop promise. It's been at least 6 months since the last one.

[OOS]

Dunno where they are getting this money from to publish and push for this nonsense. Fair play to graphic designers, keeping them in a job.

Just build a railway line, light rail/ tram or bus. Cheaper, more economical and more efficient in moving people. These techbros are getting out of hand.

[Red Beret]

May Richard should stop blowing money on spaceships if he wants to build trains?

[CraigDS]

Absolutely nothing wrong with them pushing for this tech. It may not happen tomorrow, or in 30yrs, but tech may catch up which makes it viable at some point. And that’s the same for most tech evolutions.

If companies stopped pushing for advancement because current tech didn’t make it viable then we’d be 100yrs or more less developed right now.

[stoa]

Why not just use electric trains?

I would imagine when they came up with this idea the initial question was: "Alright, who can come up with the most complicated solution for what is essentially a simple problem?"

Nothing wrong with looking at new technology like that, but I don't really see how this is in any way viable or cost efficient. It feels like they're trying to be innovative just for the sake of it, underlined by that line in the video about "being guided by the principles of this century not the last".

[thejbs]

It's about time we had a Branson/Musk type PR release about a new hyperloop promise. It's been at least 6 months since the last one.

The Tesla ‘yoke’ took up most of their critics’ energy this year.

[Max_powers]

Absolutely nothing wrong with them pushing for this tech. It may not happen tomorrow, or in 30yrs, but tech may catch up which makes it viable at some point. And that’s the same for most tech evolutions.

If companies stopped pushing for advancement because current tech didn’t make it viable then we’d be 100yrs or more less developed right now.

The problem with high speed rail isn't that its not fast enough, the problem is that due to high initial capital cost, its not widely available. So the solution shouldn't be placing the maglev train in a vacuum.

We are talking about spending 100's of billions of dollars to cut off a few minutes of most journeys, while also making the trains more unsafe and consume insane amount of energy. This is just a scheme to swindle public funds by showing cool graphics.

IDK what tech there is really to develop. 
 

[bigbonedrawky]

The problem with high speed rail isn't that its not fast enough, the problem is that due to high initial capital cost, its not widely available. So the solution shouldn't be placing the maglev train in a vacuum.

We are talking about spending 100's of billions of dollars to cut off a few minutes of most journeys, while also making the trains more unsafe and consume insane amount of energy. This is just a scheme to swindle public funds by showing cool graphics.

Tax payers spend all the money Branson steps in and skims all the profit...

[LiamG]

We are talking about spending 100's of billions of dollars to cut off a few minutes of most journeys, while also making the trains more unsafe and consume insane amount of energy. This is just a scheme to swindle public funds by showing cool graphics.


 

Wasn't the plans for Elon Musks hyper loop to go from LA to San Fran in 30 minutes? which is an 8 hour bus ride and a 4 hour train journey, thats much more than just knocking "minutes" off journeys

[RainbowFlick]

we are innovating the most pointless things. why are we not focusing on electric high-speed trains, which is what America needs? They have awful public transport infrastructure to begin with, even worse than ours (barring London), and yet they are focusing on developments that aren't even necessary in the mid-to-long term. Maybe in several decades this innovation may be heralded, but right now the focus should be on making high speed rail cost effective and viable for passengers in ticket fare and times.

[CraigDS]

Aren't they looking at this as a possible replacement for cargo movement? Removing ships and cargo planes from use, if this can be over long distances, would be pretty useful.

[Red Beret]

It's not like rail superseding canals. There's innovation and there's just reinventing the wheel. 

It's like these billionaires want to be viewed as a George Stephenson or a Brunel, when all they are is the public face of hundreds if not thousands of individuals.

[jonnypb]

we are innovating the most pointless things. why are we not focusing on electric high-speed trains, which is what America needs? They have awful public transport infrastructure to begin with, even worse than ours (barring London), and yet they are focusing on developments that aren't even necessary in the mid-to-long term. Maybe in several decades this innovation may be heralded, but right now the focus should be on making high speed rail cost effective and viable for passengers in ticket fare and times.

Eaxactly!! How much money will people waste looking into something like this….. I think something like this would be more than several decades, look how long HS2 is dragging on for!

[Andy @ Allerton!]

They need to employ the same technology as Elbonian Airlines

[RainbowFlick]

if I remember right they also get government subsidies for the development of this and there's quite a few companies working on similar-ish tech.

our priorities are all wrong.

[CornerFlag]

Maybe they can double up with Johnson's bridge/tunnel to the island of Ireland...

[Max_powers]

Wasn't the plans for Elon Musks hyper loop to go from LA to San Fran in 30 minutes? which is an 8 hour bus ride and a 4 hour train journey, thats much more than just knocking "minutes" off journeys

Distance from LA to San Fran is about 350 miles. There are existing high speed trains that could cover that distance in little over an hour. So we are talking about cutting ~30 minutes off the train journey at best.

Also I can plan to start a train from LA to SF in 10 mins but that doesn't make those plans anymore realistic. They have been developing this tech for more than 5 years, the fastest they have managed to travel with passengers is 107mph. I can do that in my Honda civic if laws allowed it.

I don't think people realize how bad public transportation is in US. Speed is not the issue here, availability and cost is.

I live in a suburb in Canada, I drive not because the trains and buses are too slow. But because there are no trains or buses available to take me where I want to go. 

American rail system is slow and they need high speed rail to connect the biggest of cities, but that rail also needs to be affordable. Can Richy Lad explain how putting a Maglev in a vacuum will be cheaper to build and maintain than just a standard Maglev?

[stoa]

Distance from LA to San Fran is about 350 miles. There are existing high speed trains that could cover that distance in little over an hour. So we are talking about cutting ~30 minutes off the train journey at best.

Also I can plan to start a train from LA to SF in 10 mins but that doesn't make those plans anymore realistic. They have been developing this tech for more than 5 years, the fastest they have managed to travel with passengers is 107mph. I can do that in my Honda civic if laws allowed it.

The funny thing is that there is a project trying to build a high speed rail between the two cities and from reading about it on Wikipedia actually building it seems a huge pain in the arse. Yet, the Hyperloop people claim they could do the same for 6 billion US-Dollars which is less than a tenth of the estimated cost for the high speed rail line. Yeah, right...

[Elmo!]

Think the issue with the LA to SF hyperlook is that realistically it will be so expensive to build and run that the cost to use it will be huge, and will esssentially will benefit the rich massively while not benefitting the vast majority of the population or fix congestion and environmental problems.

[Red Beret]

Think the issue with the LA to SF hyperlook is that realistically it will be so expensive to build and run that the cost to use it will be huge, and will esssentially will benefit the rich massively while not benefitting the vast majority of the population or fix congestion and environmental problems.

So, basically Concorde, but without the pollution or noise concerns?

[RainbowFlick]

So, basically Concorde, but without the pollution or noise concerns?

funny you mention, Concorde 2.0 is in the works...

[Nobby Reserve]

Dunno where they are getting this money from to publish and push for this nonsense.

All the £billions in tax he's avoided over the years.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

we are innovating the most pointless things. why are we not focusing on electric high-speed trains, which is what America needs? They have awful public transport infrastructure to begin with, even worse than ours (barring London), and yet they are focusing on developments that aren't even necessary in the mid-to-long term. Maybe in several decades this innovation may be heralded, but right now the focus should be on making high speed rail cost effective and viable for passengers in ticket fare and times.

No innovation is pointless,if they don't do it now then in several decades there will be an old Rainbowflick saying that it's pointless but that maybe in several decades it will be heralded.

The concept itself is several decades old.

[RainbowFlick]

No innovation is pointless,if they don't do it now then in several decades there will be an old Rainbowflick saying that it's pointless but that maybe in several decades it will be heralded.

The concept itself is several decades old.

sorry but there are far more important things to be done than some loop technology that may or may not be used in 2050, the year America might just about get a passable train network.

the money, resources, and hours being spent on this is better suited elsewhere. this is another vanity project from Branson and Co.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

sorry but there are far more important things to be done than some loop technology that may or may not be used in 2050, the year America might just about get a passable train network.

the money, resources, and hours being spent on this is better suited elsewhere.

So all innovation must stop until Americans get a train network,isn't that for those who make their money in trains to do ?

And for the record,the wheel has been in a constant state of reinvention,the bastards.

[Max_powers]

So all innovation must stop until Americans get a train network,isn't that for those who make their money in trains to do ?

And for the record,the wheel has been in a constant state of reinvention,the bastards.

So why aren't we using a square wheel? Why have the wheel innovators not innovated that? Should we be spending billions to build a square wheel that will increase efficiency by 200% and make all cars go up to 1000km/hr?

The problem isn't the innovation, the problem is the promises being made, with absolutely nothing to back it up. You are taking a thing that is already expensive (high-speed rail) and making it many times more expensive by adding the need to maintain 1000's of air pumps that need to be running around the clock and need to maintain a vacuum in a 600km tube. I don't think you understand how challenging of a task it is. No amount of innovation can make it more energy-efficient or more cost-efficient than traditional high-speed rail.

We are also talking here about limited resources. A city government can fund a bunch of Hyperloop feasibility studies (that will just lead nowhere) or use that money to invest in some buses and metro's and actually deal with the climate change issue at hand.

[classycarra]

We are also talking here about limited resources. A city government can fund a bunch of Hyperloop feasibility studies (that will just lead nowhere) or use that money to invest in some buses and metro's and actually deal with the climate change issue at hand.

Yeah isn't this what it all comes down to. MLMs and people like Musk managing to convince naive/foolish public bodies to give them money for something both not viable and not useful. And as Stoa nicely put it, finding complex 'solutions' to simple issues.

[redbyrdz]

The only place where I could this be a feasible solution at all is where you'd have to build a tunnel anyway. Then you'd have to work out if the energy expenditure (and thus costs) of running pumps and keeping it at low pressure is less than the energy needed to work against the air resistance and typical travel speeds. Can only see this being build as a gimmick in Dubai or so, connecting artificial islands or whatever.


Public money is much better spend on existing public transport modes, like the rail network or energy-efficient busses.

[thaddeus]

The only place where I could this be a feasible solution at all is where you'd have to build a tunnel anyway. Then you'd have to work out if the energy expenditure (and thus costs) of running pumps and keeping it at low pressure is less than the energy needed to work against the air resistance and typical travel speeds. Can only see this being build as a gimmick in Dubai or so, connecting artificial islands or whatever.


Public money is much better spend on existing public transport modes, like the rail network or energy-efficient busses.

It reminded me of the time the idea of sinking London's roads into underground tunnels briefly got some oxygen.  Unsurprisingly it was attributed to Bozo.  https://www.fastcompany.com/3042578/london-wants-to-bury-its-roads-underground-to-make-more-space-for-people

I first read that whilst waiting for a twice hourly bus that had seemingly skipped one of those twice hourly slots.  Bemused!  Using existing ideas and technology but funding them properly is just boring and unglamorous, but sinking billions into a vanity project with limited benefit is much more appealing!

[WhereAngelsPlay]

So why aren't we using a square wheel? Why have the wheel innovators not innovated that? Should we be spending billions to build a square wheel that will increase efficiency by 200% and make all cars go up to 1000km/hr?

The problem isn't the innovation, the problem is the promises being made, with absolutely nothing to back it up. You are taking a thing that is already expensive (high-speed rail) and making it many times more expensive by adding the need to maintain 1000's of air pumps that need to be running around the clock and need to maintain a vacuum in a 600km tube. I don't think you understand how challenging of a task it is. No amount of innovation can make it more energy-efficient or more cost-efficient than traditional high-speed rail.

We are also talking here about limited resources. A city government can fund a bunch of Hyperloop feasibility studies (that will just lead nowhere) or use that money to invest in some buses and metro's and actually deal with the climate change issue at hand.

Why aren't we still using a horse and cart ?

And the post I was responding to had a problem with pointless innovation.

And don't assume what I do and do not understand/

[Max_powers]

Why aren't we still using a horse and cart?

And the post I was responding to had a problem with pointless innovation.

And don't assume what I do and do not understand/

Horse and cart are still used by people who haven't been saved by our friendly neighbourhood billionaires.

I don't understand your position.

Do you support government funds and or subsidies for projects like it? I have no problem if Musk or Branson wants to sink some of their own money to prove the concept works better than the existing modes of transportation. I have a problem with governments putting money into vanity projects like it, while crying poverty when it comes to implementing practical solutions tha t are proven to work.