Together with tech start-up, Hardt Global Mobility, NS - the Dutch national railway - and construction company BAM, are already setting up a full-scale testing centre with building work planned for a 30m test track.
“In this facility we will test all systems that don’t require high speeds,” said Tim Houter CEO of Hardt. “So think about the levitation system, but also the propulsion system, but really important, all the safety systems will be tested in this low-speed but full-scale testing facility.”
The initial round of testing has already received $675,000 in funding. More would be needed for a high-speed test line by 2019 to accomplish their goal of setting up a Hyperloop system between Amsterdam and Paris by 2021.
This will make Holland the third European country to invest in Hyperloop technology along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
First proposed in 2013 by SpaceX’s founder and CEO Elon Musk, the Hyperloop is transportation system for people and cargo that features pods traveling through tubes — or possibly tunnels — at roughly 700mph. Apart from the European sites mentioned, other Hyperloop projects are already at work in Canada, Los Angeles, and Dubai.
