Hyperloop to Copenhagen?
Norwegians want futuristic vacuum train between Norway and Denmark
The Local
Norway’s climate-friendly Green party wants American innovator Elon Musk’s Hyperloop transport concept to be up and running between two Scandinavian capitals within 20 years.
At its annual conference in the city of Lillehammer on May 20, the party received strong support for the proposal to introduce the futuristic train, reports newspaper Dagbladet.
Green party member Per Espen Stoknes told the newspaper that the introduction of the environmentally friendly transportation would create value. “A network will be established between the major cities, and we don’t want to miss out,” he said.
A Hyperloop connection between Oslo and Copenhagen is still some way off, with the transport form still only at the design stage. But the Green party has hopes that the train, which will be tested in Dubai in the near future with a view to opening a connection in the United Arab Emirates in 2020, will provide a link between Oslo and Copenhagen by 2037.
The technology, which was developed by American investor and businessman Elon Musk—the man behind the Tesla car—is based on the principle of a train cabin travelling at the speed of sound through an airtight tube, saving both time and energy.
According to calculations, a Hyperloop could travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco—a distance of 560km (350 miles)—in 35 minutes, at an average speed of 970 kilometers per hour (600 mph).
“Other parties have not thus far shown any interest in this area. When they see that this is reality and not just green fantasy, and that it is based on scale and looking at overheads before profit, I think they will jump on the bandwagon,” Stoknes said.
The distance between Oslo and Copenhagen—as the crow flies—is around 480 kilometers (300 miles). A Hyperloop trip between the two cities at 970 km/h would take somewhere around 29 minutes.
This article was originally published on The Local.
It also appeared in the June 2, 2017, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
