Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Ready For Trial Run

Elon Musk‘s revolutionary high-speed transport system may soon have its first trial run.

Hyperloop One, one of 12 companies competing to make the idea a reality, completed its test track. It is actually not a loop, but a straight 500-meter (1640 feet) track. It is big enough to accommodate real passengers, in contrast to the smaller-scale version used by students competing in the recent SpaceX Hyperloop race.

The pods envisioned for the final project will be able to carry 28 to 40 passengers at a time and depart every 40 seconds, the company said. They could be ready as early as next year.

Hyperloop One announced the news alongside 11 proposed routes for the super-fast transport, all of which are in the U.S. The longest proposed route is 1,152 miles from Cheyenne to Houston and the shortest 64 miles from Boston to Providence. 

It would take an average car 17 hours to travel the longest route, which would be cut down to just an hour and 45 minutes on the Hyperloop.

Hyperloop One argues that such links would have big economic impacts, including allowing manufacturers to relocate to cheaper land and letting workers live farther from expensive city centers, all while reducing hours lost to traffic congestion.