A route may be built in Flevoland to test the hyperloop, Minister Schulz of Infrastructure & Environment (I&M) wants to investigate the feasibility of this, she writes in a letter to the Lower House.
Delft-based Hardt and US-based Hyperloop One parties are looking for a location to test and certify the hyperloop concept for passenger and freight transport. Schultz subsequently commissioned the report 'Hyperloop in the Netherlands', which indicates that the Vogelweg (N706) between Almere and Aviodrome in Lelystad seems the most suitable location for a five-kilometre-long test track.
'Hyperloop has positive impact on innovations in smart mobility'
Hyperloop is a transport system in an air pressure tube. Capsules are placed in this tube in which goods and/or people can be transported at high speed by vacuum. The maximum speed that can be achieved with this system should be around 1,200 kilometres per hour. Schultz thinks the system offers commercial and sustainable opportunities. She also expects the hyperloop to have a positive effect on further innovations in smart mobility.
Ministry investigates financial feasibility
Officials from the Ministry of I&M are investigating this autumn whether a five-kilometre test track for the hyperloop is financially feasible, possibly through public-private financing. They are also to work with Hardt and Hyperloop to see how the test track can be set up.
Hyperloop testing should provide more certainty about commercial feasibility and safety. The commercial routes in the Netherlands cannot be decided on until standardisation, cooperation and certification are also coordinated and harmonised at European level.
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