Just months after their first passenger testing, Virgin Hyperloop has unveiled its vision for the future hyperloop experience.
The newly-released concept video takes the viewer step-by-step through a hyperloop journey, from arriving at the portal to boarding the pod.
Sara Luchian, Virgin Hyperloop’s Director of Passenger Experience and one of the first people to ride the hyperloop in November said: “Designing a new mode of transportation from scratch is both an opportunity and a responsibility.
“Hyperloop technology – and what it enables – is paradigm-shifting. It follows that the passenger experience should be nothing short of extraordinary.”
Virgin Hyperloop worked with world-class partners across disparate industries – including Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for the portal designs, Teague for the pod designs, SeeThree for the video and animation, and Man Made Music for the score and sonic identity.
Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group said: “In this day and age, Virgin Hyperloop taking off from our portals provides holistic, intelligent transportation for a globalized community to travel across vast distances in a safer, cleaner, easier, and faster way than airlines.”
Watch: First Passengers Travel Safely on a Hyperloop
Far from a dystopian future where dark colors, stark lighting, and screens abound, Virgin Hyperloop’s counter narrative is a more optimistic view of the future: a greener, smoother, safer, and more pleasant mass transit experience.
John Barratt, CEO & President, Teague said: “Recessed seat wells provide a greater sense of space, while the raised aisle is a touch of the unexpected and unique.
A key pillar of Virgin Hyperloop’s passenger experience is accessibility, ensuring that this new form of transportation will expand opportunities for the masses.
While ticket prices will vary depending on the exact route, a recent study in Ohio found that hyperloop fares would be more akin to the cost of driving, rather than flying.
On demand and direct to destination, the hyperloop system would be able to transport thousands of passengers per hour, despite the fact that each vehicle carries up to 28 passengers.
This high throughput is achieved by convoying, where vehicles are able to travel behind one another in the tube within milliseconds, controlled by Virgin Hyperloop’s machine intelligence software.
Following their successful passenger testing, Virgin Hyperloop is currently paving the way for the regulation and certification of hyperloop systems around the world.
The company aims to achieve safety certification by 2025, with commercial operations – such as those depicted in this video – beginning in 2030.
Read More: DP World and Virgin Hyperloop Hail US Transport Legislation