A US start-up company has disclosed its lofty ambitions to create a 'supersonic' rail transport system which would connect two major European cities.
Hyper-Loop Transit Technologies (HTT) publicly announced that it had reached an agreement to carry out a feasibility study into the prospect of implementing a supersonic hyper-loop rail system between the European cities of Brno (Czech Republic) and Bratislava (Slovakia).
The company disclosed that it had reached an 'exploratory agreement' with the two cities to establish or not whether it is feasible to implement its cutting-edge technologies which would completely transform and revolutionize the public transportation in the Eastern European cities.
Mayor of Brno said HTT represented the dawn of a new era and was the next generation of transportation. He said: “Connecting Brno with Prague and the existing efforts in Bratislava along with other cities in the region with the next generation of transportation will set the stage for a new era."
HTT further disclosed that it had entered into discussion with officials in Slovakia, Abu Dhabi and other regions in an effort to establish uniform regulations for hyper-loop systems. HTT chief executive, Dirk Ahlborn said the company expressed a desire to collaborate with governments all over the world in relation to hyper-loop systems.
Ahlborn said: "Since we have solved all the technical issues, it is now crucial for us to collaborate with governments around the world. New rules and frameworks will need to be written as we begin building out systems in Slovakia, the Emirates and several others to come."
HTT was born out of a crowd-funding platform named Jump-Start-Fund in late 2013, and has listed collaborators such as engineering management colossus Atkins and Europe railway operator Deutchse Bahn.
Earlier this month, rival US startup Hyper-loop One disclosed a list of locations around the world vying to put the futuristic rail transit system to the test.
The startup company keen to revolutionize the way people and cargo travel said that 35 contenders remained from a field of 2,600 teams in a Hyper-loop One Grand Challenge launched in May 2015.
Hyperloop One wants to get three systems underway, according to chief executive Rob Lloyd.
Dubai late last year agreed to a deal to evaluate construction of a hyper-loop link that could slash travel times to Emirati capital Abu Dhabi to minutes. Both hyper-loop startups, each of which boasted investments valued at more than $100 million, are building on an idea laid out by billionaire Musk, the entrepreneur behind electric car company Tesla and private space exploration endeavor SpaceX.