Hyperloop One tests high-speed transport propulsion system

Company carries out public track run of prototype that might one day rocket commuters between San Francisco and Los Angeles in a supersonic pod

Hyperloop, the supersonic transport system proposed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has taken a tentative step towards reality with the first public test of a prototype propulsion system.

One of the companies vying to make the idea a reality, Hyperloop One, which changed its name from Hyperloop Technologies on Wednesday to coincide with the open-air propulsion test in the Nevada desert, has also closed an $80m series B funding round which includes investment from the French national rail company SNCF.