MIAMI (WSVN) - South Floridians may be one step closer to traveling to Orlando by train in less than half an hour.
In September, Hyperloop One selected a proposed Miami-to-Orlando route as one of global 10 winners, where finalists vied to compete for the rights to build the ultra-fast transportation system in the U.S. The 257-mile route normally takes about 3 hours by car, but would reduce travel time to about 26 minutes, the company says. Now more details about that proposed route are coming to light.
Hyperloop transportation uses a magnetically-levitated train inside of a low-pressure tube, giving the train the ability to potentially travel as fast as an airplane, the Miami Herald reports. The so-called “bullet” train could move both cargo and people in “pods.”
Hyperloop One wants to build a route between Miami International Airport and Orlando International Airport, where the elevated tube would run through rural areas in the middle of the state with solar panels on top. A connection at PortMiami is also a possibility as another phase of the project.
The Los Angeles-based tube train company, a concept from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, attended the quarterly meeting of the Transportation Expressway Authority Management of Florida (TEAMFL) on May 4 to discuss their proposed project.
Hyperloop is currently testing their tube train in the desert outside of Las Vegas. Dr. Anita Sengupta told KNXV that during their last speed test in the tube, the pod traveled 240 miles per hour, limited only by the length of the track. At top speeds, she says Hyperloop is expected to travel about 700 miles per hour.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams tells WPBF the company will soon begin raising money to conduct a feasibility study, the next step in the development process.
“I think it is fair to say by 2023, we could have an operational Hyperloop,” said Hyperloop’s Director of North American Projects Dan Katz to KNXV.
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