The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz was welcomed by the Virgin Hyperloop One at a test facility in the Mojave Desert. The Crown Prince, along with other Saudi government officials paid a visit to the Virgin Galactic test site in California where the CEO of Virgin Hyperloop One was on hand to personally show the company’s latest vehicle to the prince.
The latest pod is called the Vision 2o30 Hyperloop Pod and appears similar to the prototype the company has recently been testing at the test track outside Las Vegas. There were fresh stickers and logos on the pod that indicate Saudi Arabia’s plan to build a thriving economy by the end of the next decade.
“We’re looking forward to advancing the relationship between KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Virgin Hyperloop One while we develop innovative transport technologies like Hyperloop, accelerating Vision 2030 objectives to transform the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from a technology consumer to a technology innovator,” said His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. “Hyperloop is the catalyst to enable all fourth generation technologies to flourish in the Kingdom while creating a vibrant society and thriving economy through visionary cities and high-tech clusters.”
A network spanning the Gulf region, connecting cities like Kuwait, Jeddah, and Muscat has previously been flagged by the company. The company claims that a hyperloop system has the potential to convert the ten hour-plus trip between Riyadh and Jeddah to just 76 minutes.
The Vision 2030 Hyperloop pod can be seen being tested in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ26RnF80Fk