Developer Hyperloop One fielded 2,600 registrants in five months before releasing the locations of the 35 teams. The Hyperloop One Global Challenge kicked off in May 2016 with an invitation to individuals, universities, companies and governments to develop comprehensive proposals for using the technology in their region.
The eventual winners will work closely with the Hyperloop One engineering and business development teams to explore project development and financing.
Hyperloop involves transporting passengers in capsules in reduced-pressure tubes using a magnetic field generated by induction motors. During this year, Hyperloop One is planning on carrying out the world’s first full-scale test of a Hyperloop.
The semi-finalists come from 17 countries, representing every continent except Antarctica. The USA has 11 teams left, India 5 and the UK four. Twenty proposals come with commitments of support from local, state and federal governments and agencies. The company expects to announce the handful of finalists by May.
“The Hyperloop One Global Challenge unleashed ideas from some of the world’s most creative engineers and planners, who care as much as we do about the future of transportation,” said Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd. “These are all solutions that can make a real and immediate social and economic impact.”
Corridors in the semifinalist round include:
- Buenos Aires-Cordoba
- Sydney-Melbourne
- Vancouver (cargo)
- Shanghai-Hangzhou
- Tallin-Helsinki
- Eilat-Tel Aviv
- Chennai-Bangalore (two proposals)
- Mexico City-Gudalajara
- Warsaw-Wroclaw
- Glasgow-Cardiff
- London-Edinburgh
- Kansas City-St Louis
- Miami-Orlando
- Seattle-Portland.
Hyperloop One has also announced the locations and dates for the three showcases that will explore how projects in the Global Challenge might improve economies and regions. Invited teams will explore the details of their proposals with models, maps, renderings, talks and video. The Global Challenge showcase events will be held on:
- 28 February in New Delhi
- 6 April in Washington DC
- 27 April in London
“We wanted everyone to have a chance to see this amazing work,” said Hyperloop One president of engineering Josh Giegel. “The best teams got it right away that the point of the Hyperloop is to provide maximum benefit in how we live and work, and how it can improve manufacturing and supply chains.”
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