Delft Hyperloop achieves world’s first lane switch
Students at TU Delft have taken the development of the hyperloop another step further: they have managed to make their prototype switch lanes. This is unprecedented worldwide, according to the student team.
Students have built a 42-metre test track on the Delft campus. Inside the steel structure floats their small, unmanned version of the hyperloop. According to the students, this is a promising means of transport to cover long distances quickly in the future. They have recently been testing their trajectory switching system.
Hyperloops float by using electromagnetism through vacuum tubes. The capsules do not touch the tubes and in the artificial vacuum there is also virtually no air resistance. This allows the ‘vacuum train’ to go very fast with relatively little energy: developers worldwide aim for aeroplane speeds, of around 1,000 kilometres per hour.
The Delft students’ test model does not go that fast yet, but they say the new technology could come in handy when making real passenger hyperloops. ‘Thanks to this innovation, the hyperloop can make a turn to another lane while hovering, bringing its realisation closer,’ they argue.
Lane switches are ‘crucial’ for the further development of the means of transport, according to the team. After all, a lane switch enables a network with multiple branches. ‘The lane switch is an essential component in the realisation of a hyperloop system,’ confirms team captain Cem Celikbas. “Turn right at a junction? Then you go to Paris. Prefer Milan? Then the vehicle goes left.”
Paris in half an hour
Celikbas sees many advantages of hyperloops as a sustainable alternative for relatively short flights, for example within Europe. The mode of transport could shorten journey times between the Netherlands and Paris to half an hour, for example. That’s faster than a plane. ‘You also spend less money on your trip, as relatively short flights are becoming increasingly expensive due to all the emissions.’ The hyperloop does not need fossil fuels; the system runs on electricity, which can be generated sustainably.
Even for Schiphol Airport, not that far from the city of Delft, the student team sees benefits: what is currently an airport, could ‘continue to grow sustainably’ with a hyperloop station added.
The students think it should be possible to test the runway switch with a scaled-up hyperloop with passengers on board around 2030.
This article was originally published in our sister publication SpoorPro.nl.
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