History

19th Century – Pneumatic tube systems
1997 – ET3
2000s – Swissmetro
2011 – Korean Railroad Research Institute – Hyper Tube
Since 2011, the KRRI is developing a train-like public transport concept that is almost as fast as the speed of sound reaching 1,000km/h called Hyper Tube.
The KRRI belongs to Korea’s Ministry of Science, ICT, and future planning. They have more than 500 employees working on railroad safety, high-speed railroad, green and metropolitan transportation.
2013 – Elon Musk – Hyperloop
In 2013, Entrepreneur Elon Musk introduces the hyperloop concept through the release of the alpha document.
An initial design was published to describe the different functions, pathways, and costs of a hyperloop system. According to the alpha document, pods would accelerate to cruising speed gradually using a linear electric motor and glide above their track on air bearings. Pods would travel through tubes above ground on columns or below ground in tunnels depending on the geography of the line and to avoid grade crossing.
2014 – First hyperloop companies
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, also known as HyperloopTT, is an American research company formed using a crowd collaboration approach (a mix of team collaboration and crowdsourcing) to develop a transportation system based on the hyperloop concept, which was envisioned by Elon Musk in 2013.
Virgin Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies and Hyperloop One) is an American transportation technology company that works to commercialize the high-speed technology concept called the hyperloop. The company was established on June 1, 2014, and reorganized and renamed on October 12, 2017.
2015 – TransPod
In 2015, TransPod is founded by Sebastien Gendron, a former engineer from the aerospace industry, and Dr. Ryan Janzen, a physicist from the University of Toronto.
The TransPod tube system is distinct from the hyperloop concept proposed by Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Alpha white paper. Unlike hyperloop, the TransPod system uses moving electromagnetic fields to propel the vehicles with stable levitation off the bottom surface, rather than compressed air. The technology is located on the pod rather than on the infrastructure to keep the infrastructure cost as low as possible to have a better business case.
2017 – SpaceX competition and other companies
Further to Elon Musk’s initiative to promote the hyperloop concept through a yearly university competition, 3 student teams decided to start their own start-ups after participating in the event. There are now 3 additional European companies developing tube transportation technology:
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- Zeleros from Spain.
- Hardt Hyperloop from the Netherlands
- Hyper-Poland from Poland
In 2018, they signed a partnership with TransPod to establish a common approach towards regulation with the European Union.
2020 – TransPod technology demonstrator