Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2025

All Aboard The Hyperloop: How Your Commute Could Be Changing

All Aboard The Hyperloop: How Your Commute Could Be Changing

The chief executive and co-founder of Virgin Hyperloop foresees us zipping between cities in minutes, a future not as far off as you may think.
Think about the future of transportation, and you might envision the old animated show "The Jetsons," with everyone flying around in personal spaceships.

Not only did that never happen, but we are still piling into creaky old subways and buses.

Josh Giegel wants to start from scratch. The chief executive and co-founder of Virgin Hyperloop foresees us zipping between cities in minutes, a future not as far off as you may think.

Giegel sat down with Reuters to talk about how this budding technology could change the way we live and work.

Q: Humanity is facing all sorts of transportation challenges, so why do you think hyperloop is the right solution?

A: We're looking at moving massive amounts of people, at the speed of an aircraft, giving them the opportunity to live where they want to live and work where they want to work. A hyperloop would move as many people and goods as a 30-lane highway.

Q: How does the hyperloop work?

A: We take you inside a tube, which gives you lots of advantages. It's impervious to weather, and you avoid lots of things that cause accidents, like crossings.

Inside the tube we take almost all the air out, allowing you to go at high speeds with very little energy consumption. We use magnetic levitation technology, so there is no grinding, and everything is contactless and smooth. With electromagnetic propulsion, and 20-30 passengers per pod, we could move tens of thousands of passengers per hour.

Q: You actually rode in one at your Nevada test facility, so what was it like?

A: From starting this in a garage seven years ago, to drawing it up on a whiteboard, to sitting inside it, it was all very surreal.

The acceleration was similar to a sportscar, and we were giddy. The biggest piece of that test was that the world saw two people get on a hyperloop, and saw two people get off.

Until that moment, everyone wondered "Could it be safe for people?" Now we know that it is.

Q: How will this speed up travel between cities?

A: It transforms the math. Look at how long it takes you right now to get across Manhattan. Maybe 40 minutes. You could go from NYC to Washington, D.C., in less time. You could go from LA to Las Vegas in 40 minutes.

What we're doing is similar to what Roman roads, and Spanish ships, and airplanes did - shrinking the time associated with distance.

Q: What is the timeline to have it up and running?

A: This is not 10 or 20 years away. Cities can start incorporating this into their planning right now.

I couldn't put my finger on who will be the very first, but in addition to America, we are also looking at places like India, Europe and the Middle East. We are probably looking at a timeframe of 2025-27.

Q: Since you are a Virgin company, what has your interaction with Sir Richard Branson been like?

A: He is a consummate dreamer who believes in what we are trying to do. What I enjoy about Richard is that he not only started his own business from nothing, but he's an adventurer.

We are not only building a new type of transportation system, but we are trying to attract passengers to something new - and that's what he has done, from Virgin Atlantic to Virgin Cruises to Virgin Galactic. He knows how to build customer acceptance and loyalty.

Q: If this tech catches on, will it change how people live and work?

A: One hundred percent. I have a two-year-old son, and the way he will be able to live is unlike anything we can imagine.

If you look at the cities of the future, people might want to live in one area, and work in other areas. We're already seeing that with the pandemic. My dream is to live near Yosemite and then work with my team in LA. A hyperloop would give you the potential to do both.

Q: What do you want people to know about this technology?

A: Big ideas don't have to take long periods of time. You can go from a garage to a moonshot idea in a couple of years.

This decade could end with hundreds of millions of people riding hyperloop. For people who think this technology is many years away, I rode on one. It's right now.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
×