Dutch businesses want the government to invest in a hyperloop test track

Dutch businesses such as BAM, VDL, Fokker, Movares and the Dutch trains company NS, amongst others, want the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to invest in a test track for the hyperloop in Lelystad. They made this clear in a letter to the government.

The hyperloop

The idea of the hyperloop has been made popular by the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk. However, he was not the first person to dream up the hyperloop. The original inventor of the vacuum tube transport system was the American Robert Goddard, who asked for a patent in 1950.

The hyperloop is a futuristic transport system, which would consist of capsules, or pods that would travel through a vacuum tube. In theory, the hyperloop would be able to transport passengers at speeds of up to 1.200 kilometres per hour. This would mean that the journey from Amsterdam to Enschede would only take around 10 minutes.

Test track

Students from the Delft University of Technology (TUDelft), who won Elon Musk’s hyperloop challenge, founded the Dutch hyperloop business Hardt. In Delft, a 30-metre hyperloop track has already been built, however, this track is not suitable for testing maximum speed, aerodynamic resistance, as well as other aspects of the hyperloop.

The next step is building a three or five kilometre long test track. ProRail and the Rotterdam Port Authority also support this. Such a track would cost around 120 million euros. Businesses are willing to invest in the hyperloop, but only if the Dutch government does so as well. How much money they are prepared to invest is unclear.

Image source: Hardt