A CAPSULE HAS BEEN PROPELLED THROUGH A HYPERLOOP TEST TUBE IN A STEP FORWARD FOR THE TRANSIT SYSTEM

Hyperloop, a new form of mass transit involving capsules whizzing on magnetic fields through depressurized tubes, has achieved significant liftoff in the northern Netherlands, a company developing the technology said Monday.

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A test vehicle was levitated and zipped through a tube at a testing facility for the high-speed transit system once promoted by Elon Musk.

“So today, with the first successful test, we were able to levitate the vehicle, also turn on the guidance system and the propulsion system,” Marinus van der Meijs, the technology and engineering director at hyperloop company Hardt, told late last week before Monday’s formal announcement.

The European Hyperloop Center’s 420-meter (460-yard) tube is made up of 34 separate sections mostly 2½ meters (more than eight feet) in diameter. A vacuum pump sucks out the air to reduce the internal pressure. That reduces drag and allows capsules to travel at high speeds.