2nd Phase Completed For Hyperloop; D.C. To New York In Minutes
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Imagine getting from Washington D.C. to Baltimore in just a few minutes.
Hyperloop One, a "pod" designed to transport people at the speed of sound, has reached another milestone.
It's being called a new era of transportation, connecting D.C. to New York in less than half an hour.
Hyperloop one has successfully completed phase two in the Nevada Desert, reaching speeds of almost 200 miles per hour, breaking its own record.
"We are running the pod faster and faster each day, we're going longer and longer distances and we are getting closer to putting it throughout the world," said co-founder and president of engineering Josh Giegel.
It's the brain child of Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk, who just last week tweeted he received verbal government approval to build a Hyperloop tunnel.
That will make the commute from New York City to Washington D.C. shorter than 30 minutes, with stops in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
"It's basically going to change the way we live, how we work, make the world a much smaller place and make cities into metro stops," said executive chairman and co-founder Shervin Pishevar.
Hyperloop technology uses magnetic levitation to hover a pod above the track.
During phase one, conducted last May, the 1,500 pound pod reached 116 miles per hour before plowing into a sand barrier to slow it down.
Hyperloop has gotten mixed reactions in Maryland.
"Sounds like really exciting technology and something that we'd be excited to learn more about," Gov. Larry Hogan said.
"This Hyperloop thing. I'm just super skeptical," one person said.
Engineers estimate that the pod will eventually travel up to 700 miles per hour. That's faster than the speed of a Boeing jet.
The next step for the Hyperloop system is to start installing and testing an airlock on the pod.
The company's goal is to have three systems in service by 2021.
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