Virgin Hyperloop demonstrates passenger travel

Virgin Hyperloop last week tested passenger travel in a hyperloop pod for the first time.

The test took place at Virgin Hyperloop’s nearly 547-yard DevLoop test site near Las Vegas, where the company has previously run over 400 tests with no passengers.

Virgin Hyperloop’s Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Josh Giegel and Director of Passenger Experience Sara Luchian were the first people to ride on the XP-2 vehicle, a two-seater vehicle that was built to demonstrate safe travel in a hyperloop.

The XP-2 vehicle demonstrates many of the safety systems that will be found on a commercial hyperloop system, with larger vehicles that can seat up to 28 passengers. 

The testing campaign was overseen by Certifer, an independent safety assessor.

In July, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology Council released a guidance document providing a regulatory framework for hyperloop in the United States. The document not only provides a pathway for hyperloop regulation and deployment in the United States, but also establishes hyperloop’s eligibility for federal funding for projects, Virgin Hyperloop officials said in a press release.