Hyperloop Concept by Elon Musk

[dwellsokc]

...and they can build a Turbinomics building next to each pressure relief port to make use of all the discarded air! I feel a shiver up my leg!

[bombermwc]

When you're talking about 1mm worth of clearance, even the slightest shake will cause a crash. There are also issues with heat from the friction of even 1/1000 an atmosphere. The amount of water he's requiring the car to take to keep things cool is crazy...and having to keep the steam on-board. There's a pressure disaster waiting to happen. And if you do have hull breach, you're in practical vacuum with no escape hatches in the tubes. He doesn't yet have a solution for that (although i can think of several ways to isolate the area and "vent" in outside air. Not to mention the fact that if it gets stuck, it can't get going again. Unless they have some sort of booster onboard, it's screwed. The linear drive is 2 miles long, so you can't exactlly carry that onboard.

[Snowman]

Aside from technical and costs issues, the main drawbacks on time and hassle for flying direct to the destination is security and optionally baggage checking, especially on short hops like LAX to SFO where HSR might be done first. While for the most part trains have had low security compared to airports, something like this probably forces that to change.