Hyperloop is dead. Or is it?

“Hyperloop is dead.”

That was the prevailing feeling (and, indeed, the headline ) when Hyperloop One ceased operations in December 2023.

The dream was over. The idea of hyperloop — trains “flying” through pressurized tubes, shooting from one city to the next at 700 mph — was finished.

Or was it?

Arguably the main player in the crowded hyperloop space, Hyperloop One — which had previously seen investment from the Virgin Group founded by Richard Branson — couldn’t balance the books.

Yet nearly two years on, in other parts of the world, hyperloop projects are ongoing.

A handful of companies in China and Europe are working on the technology, while the European Union is backing research on a project that hopes to open its first line in a little more than a decade.

Of course, this might