Hyperloop train to travel from Dubai to Fujairah in ‘less than 10 minutes’

People in Dubai may soon be able to travel to Fujairah in “less than 10 minutes” in a hyperloop train (compared to the current travel time of about one and half to two hours) as part of Dubai’s future transport plans.

The Dubai Future Foundation is planning to hold an international competition next month to design the hyperloop link project, it announced on Monday.

The 48-hour ‘Build Earth Live’ contest, help in partnership with Asite, will involve international scientific co-operation to introduce the latest technology on hyperloop transportation designs, a statement said.

Prior to the competition, the organisers will release a high-level design brief to all potential participants, followed by full details of the event and the introduction of the final projects.

More than 100 participants have already enrolled under teams from various engineering and scientific international enterprises.

In the final stage, six teams will explain their project in front of evaluation judges.

Mohammed Al Gergawi, vice chairman and managing director of Dubai Future Foundation, said that development of future transportation solutions will ‘effectively’ change the way people handle their daily tasks, and the way they work and commute.

“This will eventually lead to massive global economic growth, and we aim to keep pace with the rapid developments by focusing on smart application of services and innovation in all fields,” he said.

“This contest is a great opportunity to explore innovation ideas in the smart transportation sector,” he added.

Dubai is also currently undertaking an autonomous transportation strategy that aims to convert 25 per cent of the total commuting trips to autonomous mode (driverless), according to the director general and chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) Mattar Al Tayer.

The strategy is a joint venture between the Dubai Future Foundation and the RTA.

RTA has also recently begun trial runs of the first driverless smart vehicle that accommodates up to 10 passengers, Al Tayer added.

Hyperloop technology

Hyperloop is a system that integrates a low-pressure pipe linking two stations enabling passenger capsules within the pipe to travel at high speeds of up to 1200km per hour.

The technology is capable of reducing the time required for travel between New York and Beijing to just two hours.

Experts say that the cost of building a single hyperloop tube will cost just 10 per cent of the cost of building conventional high speed trains.

The Hyperloop concept was first put forward by Elon Musk of Tesla Motors. The technology has been open-sourced by Musk and his SpaceX company.

Earlier this year, one of the developers of the technology said that Dubai could be one of the first markets to build a transport network for ultra-fast travel technology hyperloop.

Read more here: Dubai could be one of three initial markets for hyperloop travel

Hyperloop: Travel from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in 15 minutes