Imagine yourself zipping from Toronto to Montreal at 560 km/h on land. Woah.
This technology is called Hyperloop, proposed by Elon Musk in 2012. The concept is easy to understand: a low pressure tube designed to transport people or freight at high speeds (around 560 km/h). The promise is to get Canadians from Toronto to Montreal in less than 30 minutes, and to other cities very quickly. Elon Musk originally proposed this idea on white paper, but since then several companies jumped on board to make Musk’s vision come to life.
Pod Design #Breakapod #Hyperloop #Hyperlooptoronto pic.twitter.com/KD3U10XlIw
— HyperLoop Toronto (@hyperloopTO) November 13, 2015
Transpod, which was founded last September as Hyperloop Toronto, aims to present a full pod and tube model at InnoTrans. InnoTrans is the world’s largest rail show in Berlin that is set to take place this September.
Transpod’s director of research, Ryan Janzen, hopes it will be more successful than its competition, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) and Hyperloop Technologies Inc. (HTI) which are both worth more than $100 million (USD). Janzen believes that Transpod could put Canada on the map as an innovation hub.
The team behind Hyperloop Toronto. (Photo via HyperLoop Toronto)
According to The Star, Sebastien Gendron, Transpod’s founder, said Canada’s aerospace industry is helping out the company with making this technology happen. Regarding Bombardier Inc. Gendron said:
“They’ll let us do the work, and they can still be involved … and if they see it’s taking off, they’ll invest … money in the project.”
Gendron and Janzen aim to connect all of Canada’s major cities, having a functioning Transpod model by 2020.
Matthew Siemiatycki, an associate professor at the University of Toronto, is not optimistic about this transportation technology. According to The Star, Siemiatycki said,”One of the biggest challenges [is] people in rural areas who do not want this very narrow ribbon crossing through their property.”
Only time will tell.
Main photo by Sarah Bickie via Flickr.
