According to an article in Global Rail News, the Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council (SAC) believes that hyperloops (a sealed tube or system of tubes through which a pod can travel in a ‘vacuum’, free of air resistance or friction) would have a transformative impact on the UK, enabling people to “live anywhere within the country and easily commute great distances”.

SAC is assessing the feasibility of this transport mode, with the aim of providing independent advice on future policy and strategy.

It says that travelling at speeds of around 700mph, journey times of less than 1hr could be achieved between most UK destinations, stimulating economic development, and the lack of air resistance means that this high-speed transport system would be very energy-efficient when compared with planes, trains and cars.

However, SAC says that, because hyperloop systems are intended to operate with ‘headways’ as short as 10sec between pods, there are a number of risks that need consideration, including: emergency braking at very high speeds; power failure; protection from physical and cyber attacks; and protection and evacuation of passengers in case of a depressurised tube or pod.

Furthermore, because hyperloops require as straight a path as possible to limit g-forces, the UK’s topology and dense population may make construction more difficult and costly than in other countries.

In conclusion, the SAC report says that while there are some specific design and operational challenges to be overcome, there is nothing in the fundamental hyperloop concept that would prevent it from being able to operate safely and securely.

“However, because of the scale of the technical challenges involved — and assuming that these are ultimately resolved and that the technology proves acceptable to passengers — an operational hyperloop system is likely to be at least a couple of decades away.”

SAC’s findings follow two meetings, in which it received presentations from Hyperloop One — one of the organisations working to develop and commercialise a hyperloop system.