Virgin Hyperloop halves staff following shift from passenger to cargo Virgin Hyperloop Virgin Hyperloop – Richard Branson’s hyperloop subsidiary – has decided to halve its staff as a result of its shift from passenger to cargo operations. The company, which backed by Virgin Group and ports operator DP World, has recently made 111 members of its staff redundant after getting rid of the firm’s management. Virgin Hyperloop’s [...]
With rail closures planned this weekend, here’s how we should revamp our chugging transport system This week, consumer watchdog Which revealed that rail passengers lost four million hours to train delays last year, with an average of 660 cancellations per day. It’s hardly surprising. Any regular commuter will have experienced a delay, cancellation or disruption recently – perhaps you’re experiencing one right now, in fact. Read more: Nearly 4m hours [...]
Alexa: Tell me why I can’t have a flying car like in Blade Runner Bad news: it’s 2019, and that means we are now living through the year in which the original Blade Runner film was set. Released in 1982, Blade Runner has some interesting ideas about 2019. Yes, it’s a post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape where sentient bioengineered robots (“replicants”) must be hunted down against a backdrop of a dying [...]
Elon Musk unveils the first high-speed Boring hyperloop tunnel in California December 19, 2018 Entrepreneur and Tesla chief Elon Musk has lifted the curtain on the first tunnel completed by his underground high-speed rail venture the Boring Company. In a 30-minute presentation, Musk described the 1.14 mile tunnel as a breakthrough in counteracting the "soul-destroying" traffic of Los Angeles, California. Despite previously suggesting the public would be offered free [...]
Elon Musk abandons second LA hyperloop tunnel, opting for another instead November 29, 2018 Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has ducked out of plans to build a second high-speed passenger train tunnel in Los Angeles, after litigation forced his firm The Boring Company to back down from the project. Musk had plans to build the 2.7 mile-long Sepulveda tunnel on the western side of LA, however has since ditched development after [...]
The hyperloop train is leaving the station – and the UK must be on it November 7, 2018 Britain can reasonably claim to have invented the railway. Stephenson’s Rocket represented the pinnacle of British industrial-era innovation. The ability to move products and people by steam locomotion had a transformative effect on society. British ingenuity saw railways knit communities together across the country, and eventually the globe. And for the next couple of centuries, [...]
Out of the loop: Virgin boss Branson steps down from Hyperloop role October 22, 2018 Sir Richard Branson quit his role as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One tonight, in a move that comes days after Saudi Arabia said it was scrapping a planned deal with the company following the billionaire’s decision to freeze his ties with the kingdom. In a statement this evening the company, which plans to build a [...]
Elon Musk says first Hyperloop tunnel to open in the US in December October 22, 2018 Entrepreneur Elon Musk has said the first testing tunnel of his Hyperloop transport system is almost fully completed, and will be open to the public later this year. Manufactured under his firm Boring Co., Hyperloop is a network of high-speed transit tunnels designed to maximise the efficiency of public transport at a lowered cost. Musk said on Twitter [...]
The world’s first hyperloop train has been revealed and is due to launch next year October 3, 2018 The world’s first hyperloop capsule which promises to zip passengers around at airplane speeds has been revealed in Spain. The capsule, produced by HyperloopTT, will hold up to 40 passengers when it becomes operational in 2019. The system uses a system of frictionless magnetic cushions to propel capsules along underground low-pressure tubes at speeds of [...]
Elon Musk’s Hyperloopalooza runs out of steam before reaching the UK August 14, 2013 Hopes that the Hyperloop travel concept could work for Britain are vanishing faster than you can say “Concorde crossed with a rail gun crossed with an air hockey table”. Transport-watchers were quick to point out the practical flaws in the ambitious pod-cum-monorail idea set out by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to much hullabaloo on Monday [...]