Hyperloop for ports project unveiled

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) has revealed HyperPort, a high-speed cargo and freight solution that it claims can increase capacity and efficiency while decreasing pollution and congestion at ports worldwide.

Developed in partnership with terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), the system will now go into certification design review.

The two companies started working together at the end of 2018. Their first step was to develop a design study based on their technical concept for the HyperPort. The next step is a construction-based virtual reality demonstrator to be presented exclusively at the ITS World Congress, which will take place in Hamburg from 11 to 15 October, 2021.

HyperPort makes it possible to transport containerized goods at high speed over hundreds of kilometres. The system can reliably, efficiently and safely move up to 2,800 containers a day in a closed operating environment, without traffic or environmental influences. The individual HyperPort transport capsules provide room for two 20-foot or one 40- or 45-foot standard or high cube container.

 The goal is to increase the capacity and efficiency of container terminals while reducing the environmental footprint and congestion at ports worldwide.

“Using the same underlying technology as our passenger systems, the HyperPort can future-proof supply chains and simultaneously relieve the burden on port regions,” said Andres De Leon, CEO of HyperloopTT.

“Our work with world-leading firms to move this technology forward is a significant revenue opportunity for port operators all around the world.”

The technology was developed in cooperation with the Spanish engineering firm CT Ingenieros and is said to be construction-ready. More than 20,000 hours of work were put into the concept, on designs, analytical models, calculations, trade-off studies, 3D visualizations, optimizations of the overall design and integration capabilities. The HyperPort capsule, the infrastructure and the system components are currently being further optimized.

The transport capsules, designed by the award-winning Spanish industrial design company Mormedi, provide an impression of the innovative logistics system.

“At HHLA, we know that to prepare for the future you must innovate,” said Gerlinde John, project manager HyperPort at HHLA.

“The Hyperloop technology is suitable of taking the transport of goods to a new level. With the HyperPort concept, we are developing an alternative solution to existing transport systems for the goods transport of the future in a fast-growing global market.”