Europe’s first certified full scale Hyperloop test track opens
The first passenger trips are starting on the Technical University of Munich’s (TUM) Hyperloop test track. The 24-meter-long experimental tube at the TUM Ottobrunn/Taufkirchen campus near Munich is Europe’s first full-scale Hyperloop test segment; after a construction period of less than one year it was officially opened by Bavarian Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder and Bavarian Minister of Science and the Arts Markus Blume. The Hyperloop pod has been completely certified for passenger operations. Now the research group will focus its attention primarily on the drive system, levitation technology and vacuum behavior.
Transporting passengers from point A to point B at more than 800 kilometers per hour: A lofty goal, which researchers at TUM can now pursue under the best of conditions. The TUM Hyperloop research group was founded in 2020 from a former student initiative. Since then, the groups has been working on a new, low-emission and, more than anything, faster means of travel. After less than a year in construction, the 24-meter-long test track now consists of a concrete vacuum tube, a passenger pod and the subsystems necessary for operations. All the components are ready for empirical research on Hyperloop technology. “Now we’re able to show the public what future Hyperloop systems could look like. The transition from model scale to realistic dimensions and in particular Europe’s first passenger test under vacuum conditions are important milestones on the road to scaling up the technology and testing it with longer segments,” says Gabriele Semino, Project Lead at TUM Hyperloop.
First test with passengers already successful
The researchers have already been able to demonstrate that the TUM Hyperloop test segment is fully functional in an initial test run. The first trip with a passenger pod in vacuum inside the testing tube took place on July 10, 2023. Before operation with passengers could begin, the demonstrator had to be certified for passenger carriage by the technical inspection agency TÜV Süd. Inspection by the agency ensures safe operation of the equipment and paves the way for TUM Hyperloop to test its systems thoroughly.
Link to story on TUM website>>>