The Age of the Hyperloop Has Arrived. Well, for the Most Part

[Loudspeaker] Four, three, two, one.

[Narrator] You are now one step closer to

riding in a hyperloop.

(cheering, applause)

Hyperloop One just successfully tested

its propulsion system in the Nevada desert.

It's one of several companies racing to realize

the futuristic transportation method.

They all have the same big dreams.

To make neighbors of distant cities,

replace fume-spewing trucks with

planet-friendly freight movement,

and to dodge the massive costs that come

with railroad construction.

This is the first successful use of a custom-made,

full-scale hyperloop component.

The linear induction motors spread over

nearly 200 feet of track fire a test vehicle

up to 120 miles an hour in just a second and a half.

That sled reached 300 miles per hour

before victoriously plowing into a sand brake.

It's an important step but the journey has just begun.

Hyperloop One still has to figure out

how to build the tubes through which its pods will travel,

how to keep those in a near vacuum state

and how to make the pods levitate.

And that's before anyone worries about

how to build and operate a commercial system

without going bankrupt.

It may seem like a pipe dream,

but whichever company cracks the technology first

could genuinely shift the world of transportation,

just like the ship, train, automobile and plane did

all those years ago.