The story…

Hyperloop: the train of the future?

Learn language related to…

Speed

Need-to-know language

glimpse – very fast or partial view of something

hurtling – moving very quickly, especially in a dangerous way

miles an hour – a measurement of speed; how far a vehicle can travel in an hour

test track – a type of road used to evaluate something, such as a vehicle's speed

cut the journey – reduce the amount of time needed to complete the journey

Answer this…

What is the Hyperloop?

Transcript

We're heading through the Nevada desert, north of Las Vegas, for a glimpse of what its backers claim is the future of transport.

This is Hyperloop - an attempt to send passengers hurtling at 700 miles an hour through a vacuum tube.

Many think that's far-fetched, but this project got the backing last year of Virgin with Sir Richard Branson becoming chairman.

In this 500-metre test track, they say they have shown that the technology works, though they've not yet put any human beings on board.

The head of engineering, a space scientist recruited from NASA, sees no reason why people might be scared.

Anita Sengupta, Head of Engineering, Virgin Hyperloop One

"The Hyperloop is a maglev train in a vacuum system, or in a vacuum tube. And so you can also think of it as an aircraft flying at 200,000 feet so people don't have any issue flying in aeroplanes and people don't have any issue going in maglev trains. This is simply combining the two and allows you to be more energy efficient."

The Virgin Hyperloop team have said they could take passengers from London to Edinburgh in 50 minutes or cut the journey between New York and Boston to under half an hour.

Did you get it?

What is the Hyperloop?

The Hyperloop is a maglev train in a vacuum tube.

Did you know?

The word 'maglev' is a portmanteau of the words 'magnetic' and 'levitation'. This is because the system uses magnets to levitate the train. This reduces friction and increases speed. The first maglev train operated in Hamburg, Germany in 1979.