Hyperloop
Faster than air travel. Sustainable like the train.
Hyperloop could be the answer: What does the future of sustainable travel look like? An investment in Hyperloop would not only take us a big step closer to a fossil-free future, it would also provide us with new opportunities to build dense and attractive cities where people can take up more space than cars.
Commuters, business travelers and tourists come directly to the city center, without changes and without time-consuming transfers to and from the airport.
Imagine a mode of transport that combines the speed of air travel and the low carbon footprint of trains with the frequency of public transport. It may sound like science fiction, but it could be part of our everyday life within 10-15 years. The technology already exists and is currently being tested in several parts of the world.
Fast as air travel, environmentfriendly as the train
With Hyperloop, it will be possible to travel between Stockholm and Gothenburg in 32 minutes. Traveling from Stockholm to Berlin or Paris will take less than an hour, with a smaller carbon footprint than a train. In a network of lines linking Europe's major cities, Hyperloop could seriously compete with air travel, even over very long distances. The carriages can hold 20-60 passengers and can run at high frequency directly from one city to another.
Dense, vibrant and attractive cities
Hyperloop stations can be built in the heart of cities, directly connected to local and regional public transport. From an urban planning perspective, investing in new, sustainable infrastructure is important because it helps to reduce our dependence on cars. With fewer cars in cities, we can start designing them to suit us better. We can build denser and more mixed. The dense city is safer and more vibrant because there are more people on the move at all hours of the day. It can also be more attractive and comfortable to live and work in. More people means more purchasing power, which in turn means that some of the retailers who have moved out of the city centers can benefit from coming back in.
Live here, work there - or vice versa
In an expanded Swedish network, there could be stations in every major city. With a fast, flexible and climate-neutral way of commuting, it will be possible to live in one city and work in another. Then it will be just as easy to get from Jönköping or Linköping to Stockholm as from one of the suburbs. It will also be possible for companies outside the metropolitan regions to attract expertise from there in a way that is currently difficult.
Technology
What makes Hyperloop so effective is the combination of low air resistance and minimal friction. The cars hover a few centimeters above the track, which runs inside low-pressure tubes. The reduced friction combined with the low air resistance allows the cars to travel at 1000 km/h with an energy consumption of one fifth of that of an airplane per passenger kilometer. Hyperloop travel can also be made completely climate neutral, provided the electricity comes from fossil-free energy sources. With solar panels mounted on the tubes in which the cars travel, the system can be fully or partially self-sufficient in electricity, depending on the number of hours of sunshine.
The cars travel in tubular structures, making Hyperloop impervious to weather disturbances.