COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Those at the company working to bring a hyperloop system to life in Southern Colorado say they took a big step forward Friday.
It’s been one year since Swisspod began construction on what will be the world’s largest hyperloop test track at PuebloPlex, just north of Avondale in Pueblo County. A hyperloop is a capsule or pod that levitates inside a tube and travels at very high speeds.
“We’re trying now to find a way to create this technology into a product and to change the future of transportation in the United States of America,” Swisspod CEO and founder Denis Tudor said.
On Friday, the company brought local and national leaders, along with other guests, for an update on the progress of that work. Tudor said they have completed one-third of their planned mile-long test track.
“When I see something like the stuff that is going into the project they’ve been building so far, it’s going to be our local products, our local talent students, it’s a way of lifting the entire local economy,” U.S. Senator Michael Bennet said.
Guests included Bennet, as well as Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham and representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“We’re very supportive of new and innovative technologies,” Federal Railroad Administration Deputy Administrator Drew Feeley said. “There is a lot of issues with passenger rail in America right now and I think projects like this really have the potential to make a huge difference in how America travels.”
Bennet said Pueblo is the perfect place for a project like the Swisspod hyperloop track.
“We have a long tradition here of being able to work on new technology, and in Colorado today, we’re leading the world on space, we’re leading the world on aerospace, now we’ll be leading the world in terms of terrestrial transportation on the ground,” he said.
Swisspod also conducted a test of their system. You can watch the video of the test here:
Swisspod conducted a test of the hyperloop track it is building at PuebloPlex on Friday.
Company officials said their vehicle reached 102 kilometers per hour (roughly 63.4 miles an hour), a speed they said is a new record for a hyperloop track. But they said they can do more, as the test only used 62 percent of the available power.
Bennet said he wants the work out at PuebloPlex to continue.
“I think we should continue to make sure we can continue to work as partners with Pueblo and with the company to ensure they’re able to build this out to the extent possible,” Bennet said.
“The FRA does safety, and we do development, and part of development is discretionary grants,” Feeley said. “Hyperloop right now, there is not a whole lot of eligibility because it’s an emerging technology, but certainly we’d be open to looking for ways to support a good, solid project, something that has the potential of helping America travel.”
Swisspod officials tell 11 News they hope to have the test track completed within the next two years.
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