Venice-Rome in half an hour. The new hypersonic train will have Veneto as experimental ground.
HYPERLOOP: first experiment in Europe
Hyperloop is the supersonic train born from the mind of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. Indeed, Elon Musk is the one who, in May 2020, sent two astronauts to the ISS (International Space Station), aboard SpaceX. It was the first time a private company provided some services to NASA on an astronaut expedition to the ISS.
For some years the investments around Hyperloop have been getting more and more substantial. The latest steps forward make it look as a concrete innovation.
The idea was presented by Musk in 2013: a mean of transport capable of covering long distances in a short time. Musk was talking, at the time, of a Los Angeles-San Francisco route in just 30 minutes. This would be done using strictly energy obtained from photovoltaic energy. And taking advantage of magnetic levitation and of vacuum tubes, in which to slide the capsules.
# Hyperloop in Veneto
Hyperloop will arrive in Veneto, starting from an experimentation on freight transport. This is the first trial of the system ever in Europe.
The Veneto Region communicated a few days ago to Cav (Venetian Motorway Concessions) the desire to experiment Hyperloop in Veneto. The vehicle will be 100% sustainable and energy-efficient. It will be a train capable of traveling at over 1,000 km/h, moving inside an elevated double tube.
# The first section: Verona-Venice
The route along which the train should run, for the moment, is the “old” Verona-Padua-Venice. Vice President of the Veneto Region, Elisa De Berti, has some comments on the innovation. “Let’s think about the Mediterranean corridor, from the interport of Verona to that of Padua, up to the port of Venice. They are the three fundamental hubs of the region for goods and for the mobility of people. If the feasibility study gives a positive result, it will aim at the realization of the project and the Ministry will have to try to get the European funds “.
The provision linked to Hyperloop in Veneto has to do with the entire Italian transport system. The project clearly speaks of sustainability, innovation, social cohesion and digitalization. This fully shares the objectives of the European Union. Indeed, the aim is to promote and support the development of new technologies for mobility. In particular, with a series of projects related to both passenger and freight transport. The challenge is to do this by trying to integrate research and innovation. And involving both public and private companies in synergy.
The governor of Veneto Luca Zaia, comments on the project as well. He underlines that, in this case, Veneto’s primacy is European. “The approval of this Protocol marks a distinction in the field of transport at national and European level. Veneto is in fact the first Region in Europe to start a similar experiment, aimed at radically transforming European mobility and infrastructures”.
LORENZO ZUCCHI
