Virgin’s hyperloop has carried passengers for the first time. Two employees covered about 500 meters in 15 seconds at a test location in the desert of Nevada, USA.
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Virgin describes the first human passenger test as a historic moment. One of the passengers, Virgin employee Sara Luchian, said the trip went well and was “nothing like a roller coaster”, according to the British public broadcaster BBC. She called the test ride “exciting” and said that she and her fellow passenger did not feel ill afterwards.
Virgin predicts that the hyperloop, a super-fast train in a vacuum tube, will reach a maximum speed of more than 1,000 kilometers per hour. The travel time between the American cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco could therefore decrease to about 45 minutes.
Luchian and her fellow passengers traveled in a capsule for two people, but Virgin says there will also be trains with room for 28 passengers. The company is also working on the development of capsules for freight transport. Other companies are also developing a hyperloop.
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