Quote:
Originally Posted by bbeliko
How much of the construction savings are due to the much smaller diameter? He's a prick, but if he manages to build railway-sized tunnels for a fraction of the cost this could indeed be game-changing. Of course I don't think his ego would let him do just that.
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This is a lot of it, but the main reason the tunnel diameters can be smaller is because they're using linear induction motors, which are flatter than normal rotary motors.
The thing is though, is this has already been around for decades. It's especially popular with Japanese and Chinese subway systems, and also the Vancouver Skytrain and some other systems around the world.
It's also the same type of motor used in maglevs, so presumably any maglev would have the same benefit, "hyperloop" or not.
Here's the Japanese wikipedia page about them:
https://translate.googleusercontent....82%AB%E3%83%BC