Bär, BMFTR minister, inspected hyperloop research at the Technical University of Munich. The German government indicated a policy of promoting the development of a 3–5 km test track.
Bär, BMFTR minister, inspected hyperloop research activities at the Technical University of Munich and received an explanation of the progress of the research and future plans. Hyperloop is envisioned as a high-speed transport system using autonomous magnetic-levitation vehicles travelling through vacuum tubes, and is positioned as a technology aimed at achieving CO2-neutral, long-distance, high-volume transport.
The German government indicated that the coalition agreement and the High-Tech Agenda (HTAD) specify plans to develop a test track with a total length of 3–5 km, moving beyond the current situation in which testing is limited to tubes measuring only a few metres. It also established the first dedicated division specifically responsible for this technology.
The Technical University of Munich exhibited a passenger capsule for hyperloop at InnoTrans and explained the progress of its research on site. At the university’s expanded facilities, regarded as among Europe’s leading research institutions, testing is under way using a 24 m test track and passenger vehicle to verify the conditions best suited to hyperloop.
Research on hyperloop test tracks and vehicles is under way at the research facility in Ottobrunn, and the current situation was reviewed, including independent plans being pursued outside Europe in countries such as China, India and South Korea. Germany aims to lead Europe and is working to accelerate related research.