The Hyperloop Is Dead For Real This Time

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Hyperloop One, the futuristic transportation startup that promised to whisk us through nearly airless tubes at airline speeds, is shutting down, according to Bloomberg.

The company is selling off its assets, closing down its offices, and laying off employees. It will formally close at the end of the year, at which point all of its intellectual property will shift to its majority stakeholder, major Dubai port operator DP World. Whoever buys the test track in the Nevada desert will have one hell of a Slip N Slide if they want it.

Since its founding in 2014, the company raised around $450 million in venture capital funds and other investments. While there is still a small smattering of startups trying to build hyperloops, the demise of one of the biggest hyperloop companies signals the end of the dream that originated with Elon Musk's so-called alpha paper"in 2013.

Whoever buys the test track in the Nevada desert will have one hell of a Slip N Slide if they want it

Musk theorized that aerodynamic aluminum capsules filled with passengers or cargo could be propelled through a nearly airless tube at speeds of up to 760mph. These tubes, either raised on pylons or sunk beneath the earth, could be built either within or between cities. He called it a fifth mode of transportation" and argued it could help change the way we live, work, trade, and travel.

The most eye-catching scenario he proposed was a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in only 30 minutes. The ideacaptured the imaginations of engineersand investors across the world.

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