The Hyperloop Hype

The focus project, founded in 2016, emerged in the wake of Musk's Hyperloop white paper and the subsequent open source competition. It is only logical that Switzerland is on fire for its project. However: in an international survey conducted the previous year, transport experts expressed criticism. The initiator of the survey was the International Maglev Board, a scientific non-profit organisation, in cooperation with the Technical University of Deggendorf. A total of 1,036 people from 48 countries took part. But let's take it one step at a time: The idea of the pneumatic tube train fascinates and sparks the imagination of scientists and laymen alike. And not just since Elon Musk. "The idea of transporting goods in air-reduced tubes has been around for 150 years," says Johannes Klühspies, professor at the THD Faculty of Applied Sciences. Today, various projects and constellations are working and researching on the Hyperloop - in the USA as well as in China, in Europe as well as in the United Arab Emirates. Hyperloop technology initially requires three things: tubes, cabin capsules and terminals. The idea behind it: The capsules or pods with people or goods shoot through a tube at very high speed - around 1,000 km/h - in which there is largely a vacuum. Solar panels could be mounted on the tubes. But for the high-speed transport system to really work, it needs much more. The pods move largely free of air resistance and friction thanks to a magnetic drive inside the tubes. As with all maglev systems, a completely new infrastructure would be required. It is thus already clear that hyperloops would be geared to demand rather than running according to a fixed timetable.

Because of the low air resistance, the energy input should be much lower than for other means of transport, according to the many research teams. The propulsion system is similar to the Transrapid magnetic levitation train developed by Siemens and ThyssenKrupp. Until recently, a 1.6-kilometre-long strip on SpaceX's company premises in Hawthorne, California, served as a test track. However, the SpaceX tube has since been dismantled. In Switzerland, in Collombey-Muraz, the longest test track, the AlphaTube, is currently being built at 3.1 kilometres. Swissloop specialises in the design of pods, while Swissloop Tunneling, also student-run, is researching tunnel solutions. The third in the cluster is Eurotube in Zurich - as the name suggests, this is all about infrastructure and tubes, with Eurotube cooperating with the SBB. The length has been calculated so that high-speed vehicles can be tested at up to 900 km/h - safe acceleration and braking would be guaranteed.

If a network of Hyperloop trains were to criss-cross the whole of Europe, small countries like Austria and Switzerland would undoubtedly be "right in the middle of it", as Julie Schmitt from Swissloop puts it: "There would be stations in Zurich, Geneva or Bern". The network could connect 130 European cities over a total of around 25,000 kilometres. However, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries face topographical and, with their high population density, demographic challenges. In any case, the route Berlin-Zurich would be possible in 30 minutes - with the ICE it takes four and a half hours so far. The nations of the USA, China or Russia are more likely to benefit from the distances necessary for speed developments, and in the case of China, the population potential would also be there to be served. Schmitt is convinced "that a functioning Hyperloop system on a country level is conceivable in about 15 to 20 years in the USA and the UAE." In countries such as Switzerland or Austria, it is more likely to take 30 years. Swissloop assumes that although the installations would be costly, maintenance and operating costs would be comparatively low. In some models, tubes are built on supports instead of lying directly on the ground - this would also make construction cheaper. Other concepts favour underground solutions, as these tunnels are more resilient to weather and other hazards on the surface. In any case, Musk calculated in his white paper, according to the Swissloop experts, that a hyperloop system would be profitable in 30 to 40 years.

Goods and commodities could be transported over long distances very quickly and thus relatively cheaply, the proponents say. This would be particularly beneficial for refrigerated goods or medicines that have to get from A to B quickly. Research groups on the topic also exist in the Netherlands, China and the USA. In Spain, the deep-tech company Zeleros has already conducted trials with the steel and mining group ArcelorMittal on the way to a "scalable ultra-high-speed mobility solution" to analyse the behaviour of steel grades for optimal use in hyperloops. To develop an "emission-free propulsion system", Zeleros has teamed up with ITP Aero. The Spanish and Swiss experts see sustainability as a given, as the electric motors would be battery-powered, causing no direct carbon emissions, and would be additionally powered by the movement of the turbines. "Due to the vacuum, the capsule only needs energy to be pushed and slowed down again." During the journey, only the electromagnetic levitation systems and motors would have an impact. The propulsion system is protected from external influences such as snow, sand, bird strikes and other environmental factors. Construction and maintenance are therefore seen as rather uncomplicated and inexpensive.