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Edmonton - Red Deer - Calgary Hyperloop | ?m | ?s | Transpod

What do you think of a Hyperloop between Edmonton and Calgary?

  • Total voters
    72
archited said:
Believe what you want -- hyperloop testing will continue.
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while i don't doubt that "hyperloop testing will continue", i simply question (a) who is doing the testing; (b) who is paying for the testing; (c) the likelihood that the testing will ever result in something that is physically possible to move from testing to implementation; (d) whether it will be a more efficient mode of transportation than other alternatives even if it does become physically possible; (e) whether it will ever be a financially viable alternative for either the private or public sector even if we reach (d).
 
Daveography said:
I wonder what a Venn diagram would look like of people who are fawning over this, but don't think a gondola is feasible.

I imagine it's very close to a circle.
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I think one can be critical of both projects and their viability in Alberta and/or Edmonton, while still realizing they may work in other places quite well. That said, I think the gondola is more likely to happen than Hyperloop ever happening in Alberta, even with some of the foreseeable service flaws that the gondola will likely have. However, if the gondola business model fails and it becomes subsidized public transportation in the future, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I guarantee we will hear another high speed pitch in five years about this corridor whether it is Hyperloop or some other company with a flashy rail proposal. It seems to be part of politics in Alberta. I don't think our population makes anything feasible unless a rich person wishes to part with their fortune.
 
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kcantor said:
while i don't doubt that "hyperloop testing will continue", i simply question (a) who is doing the testing; (b) who is paying for the testing; (c) the likelihood that the testing will ever result in something that is physically possible to move from testing to implementation; (d) whether it will be a more efficient mode of transportation than other alternatives even if it does become physically possible; (e) whether it will ever be a financially viable alternative for either the private or public sector even if we reach (d).
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a) the proponent, Transpod
b) the proponent's investors
c) who knows - 10 km is long enough that they will have to deal with the big questions of thermal expansion of the pipe, which seems to be the engineering barrier
d) more efficient - can be measured in different ways of course. energy expended per passenger? an electric bus going at 90 kph is probably going to win almost every time for that!
e) financial viability depends on the capital cost. and capital cost depends on proving with the full scale test track.
 
I sure hope that Transpod reads this site. It would be a shame if they wasted their money before consulting the hyperloop experts here. ;)

If a private company wants to conduct a feasibility study, let them. If they want to build a privately funded test facility in our region, let them. If they want to move on to the real thing - then you can pump the brakes and review the data. In the meantime, it's a private company conducting private business that doesn't negatively impact our province, while generating a positive association between Alberta and bleeding edge, efficient transportation.
 
I still think it will happen. The tech is too promising not to develop. But do I think this will be built any time soon? Nope and that's a damn shame. Even as a tourist trap/novelty it's kinda worth it. Why? Two words, Seattle monorail. It's only a mile long and yet it's probably the most iconic ride in the Americas for transit rail fans... I do think however some other hyperloop-esque designs are better... My personal favorite is Hyper Poland... Why? It proposes to do several stages of commercial roll out before full pressurized pods and tubes... Hyper Poland 550 km/h pods on existing rails with a passive guideway added in between so that all types of vehicles can use it...
 
Btw, have they announced the test site? I personally would select the 10km or so between Red Deer Regional Airport at the CrossRoads Church on 32 St opposite RDC on QEII. Why? Even if it was just a quick way to get from town to the airport, that would be a great way to both promote development at the airport and give Red Deer a new tourist attraction half-way between the two largest markets in Alberta... After all the city is notorious for being the neutral middle ground between the two cities...
 
ION said:
I still think it will happen. The tech is too promising not to develop. But do I think this will be built any time soon? Nope and that's a damn shame. Even as a tourist trap/novelty it's kinda worth it. Why? Two words, Seattle monorail. It's only a mile long and yet it's probably the most iconic ride in the Americas for transit rail fans... I do think however some other hyperloop-esque designs are better... My personal favorite is Hyper Poland... Why? It proposes to do several stages of commercial roll out before full pressurized pods and tubes... Hyper Poland 550 km/h pods on existing rails with a passive guideway added in between so that all types of vehicles can use it...
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I’m skeptical that they’ve cracked the problem of magnetic levitation on existing rails. That is a harder engineering problem than hyperloop imo, and much more useful if it doesn’t require rebuilding with costs similar to HSR.
 
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