Virgin Hyperloop Unveils Passenger Experience Vision
Groundbreaking design shows end-to-end passenger experience for the 21st century
Just months after their
first passenger testing – in which Tanay Manjrekar was the first Indian to ride hyperloop –
Virgin Hyperloop today unveiled its vision for the future hyperloop experience. The newly-released concept
video takes the viewer step-by-step through a hyperloop journey, from arriving at the portal to boarding the pod.
“Showing the passenger
experience of Virgin Hyperloop is a glimpse of the future, following the
success three months ago when people rode in a hyperloop pod for the
first time,” said Sultan Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Virgin
Hyperloop and Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. “We have demonstrated
the maturity of our technology. We are getting closer to
commercialization of what will be the first new mass-scale
transportation mode in a century.”
“Designing a new mode of transportation from scratch is both an opportunity and a responsibility,” said
Sara Luchian, Virgin Hyperloop’s Director of Passenger Experience
and one of the first people to ride the hyperloop in November.
“Hyperloop technology – and what it enables – is paradigm-shifting. It
follows that the passenger experience should be nothing
short of extraordinary.”
The designs
showcased in the video are indicative of what global hyperloop systems
would look like, including for operations in India.
“Imagine
being able to travel between Mumbai and Pune in under 30 minutes, with a
seamless and relaxing end-to-end journey,” said
Harj Dhaliwal, Virgin Hyperloop’s Managing Director of Middle East and India.
“We are committed to bringing this vision to life – in Maharashtra and
beyond – and are working closely with our partners, investors, and
governments to do just that.”
Virgin Hyperloop worked with world-class partners across disparate industries – including
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for the portal designs,
Teague for the pod designs,
SeeThree for the video and animation, and
Man Made Music
for the score and sonic identity – to design a comprehensive,
multi-sensory passenger experience that surpasses that of any other
form of mass transit.
“Virgin
Hyperloop can accelerate the future of mobility on land. The new mode of
travel at supersonic speed rethinks transportation and the perception
of space, landscape, time, and distance,” said
Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group.
“In this day and age,
Virgin Hyperloop taking off from our portals provides holistic,
intelligent transportation for a globalized community to travel across
vast distances in a safer, cleaner, easier, and faster
way than airlines.”
Far from a
dystopian future where dark colors, stark lighting, and screens abound,
Virgin Hyperloop’s counter narrative is a more optimistic view of the
future: a greener, smoother, safer, and more
pleasant mass transit experience.
"We
leveraged decades of experience designing how people and things move
across various modalities – taking some of the best aspects from
aviation, rail, automotive, and even hospitality to create
a new and better passenger experience that is distinct to Virgin
Hyperloop,” said
John Barratt, CEO & President, Teague. “Recessed seat wells
provide a greater sense of space, while the raised aisle is a touch of
the unexpected and unique. Bands of greenery and wood textures subvert
the aesthetic of typical mass transit materials
with something optimistic and fresh. All lighting in the pod—including
the unassuming information displays—are dynamic and adjust based on
traveler activity and journey milestones."
Beyond the
typical touchpoints in transportation, Virgin Hyperloop also researched
and incorporated findings from more non-traditional interactions, such
as sound.
“Through proprietary research and
a design thinking approach to creating sound and sonic solutions for
Virgin Hyperloop, Man Made Music was able to address a myriad of
potential challenges for this new mode of transportation,
from how to evoke a sense of privacy and space to an enhanced sense of
safety and calm,” said
Joel Beckerman, Founder and Lead Composer at Man Made Music. “We
respond to sound quicker than any other sense, so sound actually drives
the multi-sensory experiences. The sonic cues of the Virgin Hyperloop
identity system serves as a guide for passengers
throughout their experience while instilling confidence, safety, and
clarity – you ‘feel’ it rather than ‘hear’ it. Just like a great movie
score, it tells you the story. We know when we’ve got it right when you
don’t notice the sound at all: the interface
is humanized in ways that are both fresh and familiar.”
A key
pillar of Virgin Hyperloop’s passenger experience is accessibility,
ensuring that this new form of transportation will expand opportunities
for the masses. While ticket prices will vary depending
on the exact route, a recent study in Ohio, USA
found that hyperloop fares would be more akin to the cost of driving, rather than flying.
On demand
and direct to destination, the hyperloop system would be able to
transport thousands of passengers per hour, despite the fact that each
vehicle carries only about 28 passengers. This high
throughput is achieved by convoying, where vehicles are able to travel
behind one another in the tube within milliseconds, controlled by Virgin
Hyperloop’s machine intelligence software.
Following
their successful passenger testing, Virgin Hyperloop is currently paving
the way for the regulation and certification of hyperloop systems
around the world – including those in India. The
company is working on the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project, which would connect the cities in under 25 minutes
with zero direct emissions. Beyond Maharashtra, Virgin Hyperloop recently announced a
ground-breaking partnership with Bangalore International Airports Limited (BIAL) to conduct a feasibility study for a proposed
hyperloop corridor from BLR Airport.
The company
aims to achieve safety certification by 2025, with commercial
operations – such as those depicted in this video – beginning in 2030.
Virgin Hyperloop
Virgin
Hyperloop is the only company in the world that has successfully tested
hyperloop technology with passengers, launching the first new mode of
mass transportation in over 100 years. The company
successfully operated an occupied hyperloop vehicle using electric
propulsion and electromagnetic levitation under near-vacuum conditions,
realizing a fundamentally new form of transportation that is faster,
safer, cheaper, and more sustainable than existing
modes.The company is now working with
governments, partners, and investors around the world to make hyperloop a reality in years, not
decades. Learn more about Virgin Hyperloop's technology, vision, and ongoing projects here.