Hyperloop One permanently on hold, stops operating outside of Las Vegas
Hyperloop One, a futuristic tech company designed to transport passengers from one city to another at lightning speeds via giant tubes, is closing for good. The company is selling off its assets, laying off all remaining employees and preparing to close its final North Las Vegas office by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg News.
Since being founded as Hyperloop Technologies in 2014, Hyperloop One has raised more than $450 million, mostly from United Arab Emirates shipping company DP World and British billionaire Richard Branson, before rebranding the company as Virgin Hyperloop One.
For a while, the company's future seemed promising. For example, in 2020, the world's first passenger trip was carried out using an ultra-high-speed floating capsule system. However, failure was doomed when the company failed to secure a contract to build an operational Hyperloop system, according to Bloomberg.
Hyperloop One closed its Los Angeles headquarters in January after laying off nearly half of its 200-person workforce in early 2022. Virgin also scrapped its brand last year as the startup focused on transporting goods rather than people.
The end of an era?
While a handful of companies still intend to build Hyperloop, including Elon Musk's The Boring Company, none have come close to Hyperloop One.
Musk wrote in a so-called "alpha paper" in 2013 that an aerodynamic aluminum capsule carrying passengers or cargo could reach speeds of up to 760 miles per hour if passed through a vacuum tube without air resistance.
The Space X founder calls it a "fifth mode of transportation" that could change the way we live, work, trade and travel.
Most people thought of the technology when Musk announced his Vegas Loop, claiming it would carry passengers through the crowded streets of Las Vegas at speeds of up to 155 mph.
However, the Boring Company's current tunnel system beneath Sin City only transports people in traditional Tesla vehicles, at a reported average speed of 25 miles per hour.
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Source: www.casino.org
