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Feeling fly like the Virgin HyperloopMENA

Feeling fly like the Virgin Hyperloop

Saying goodbye to that one-and-a-half-hour commute between Dubai and Abu Dhabi could come sooner than you think. Virgin Hyperloop dropped a video that gives a glimpse of what the future of transportation will look like in the UAE. The concept video takes viewers on a step-by-step hyperloop journey and comes three months after the first-ever successful hyperloop journey with real passengers.

Dubai-based logistics company DP World (DPW) is a major investor in Virgin Hyperloop and is working to lay the groundwork for a larger hyperloop transportation system that would allow passengers to travel between multiple cities.

Hyperloop technology was first proposed in 1904, though the full-scale public implementation of it has never been done. The concept involves magnetically powered pods moving at high speeds through vacuum-sealed tubes, free from the friction caused by air resistance.

why it matters
Virgin Hyperloop is leading the charge for hyperloop technology across the world, and DP World CEO and Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem believes they are “getting closer to commercialization of what will be the first new mass-scale transportation mode in a century.” Even Elon Musk is well-known for his support of the technology and was once seriously considering using it to link Los Angeles and San Francisco.