Hyperloop Track, First Test Track at Actual Size, Unveiled in Nevada

Startup company Hyperloop One unveiled images of its test track in the Nevada desert during the Middle East Rail Conference in Dubai this week.

Hyperloop technology was first conceptualized by SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who envisioned high speed travel between cities in pods that travel through a low-pressure tube at up to 760 miles per hour.

Musk released a whitepaper on the Hyperloop technology in 2013, saying he was too busy with other initiatives to develop it and inviting researchers and startups to have a go at development. Since then, several companies have taken steps to create a hyperloop system, but Hyperloop One will be the first to build a life-size (rather than scale model) test track, according to Ars Technica.

Not only could Hyperloop technology cut commute times down drastically and make it possible to commute longer distances to work, but the technology also could move goods at a dramatically faster rate as well.

SpaceX recently hosted a Hyperloop competition to get companies interested in the technology, Ars Technica reported.

Dubai and other cities, including some in India and across the Middle East, may be the first to install Hyperloop technology through Hyperloop One as other companies plan routes in California and elsewhere in the U.S.

“While technology is revolutionizing many facets of our lives, we have not seen a radical change in transportation since the Wright brothers introduced air travel over 100 years ago, Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd said in Dubai at the conference, NBC News reported.

The planned hyperloop system could allow the trip from Dubai to Abu Dhabi to be made in just 12 minutes, NBC News reported.

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