Tata Steel supplies special steel for the production of a hyperloop. Today the first rolls went to Spain. Pipes are made from it. Next year the first tests with the hyperloop will take place in Groningen.
The hyperloop is a mode of transport that resembles flying bicycles, but according to Stefan Marges, general manager of the European Hyperloop Center, could become a reality by 2030. At the speed of an airplane, goods and people are transported through a tube using magnetic fields.
Sustainable
The steel from which the pipe is made must have special properties. It should be thin, light and stiff. “This mode of transport revolves around sustainability,” says Huib Simon of Tata Steel. “And when you talk about sustainability, that means using as little material as possible. That took some searching for us, but we succeeded. It is a wonderful result that our researchers, together with the engineers and students, have worked on.”
Tata Steel works closely with Hardt Hyperloop, initiator of the European Hyperloop Center, whose head office is located in Groningen. The first tests will take place there next year.
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Tata Steel wants to be closely involved in the development of the hyperloop. Simon: “Hyperloop is going to make a difference in the transport of people and goods. And that in a very sustainable way. We have to be in between that now. So that we are ready when the first routes are built.”
Not a far-from-my-bed show
Simon emphasizes that the Hyperloop is not a ‘far-from-my-bed show’. De IJmond is closely involved in the development. “This is a project that will have an impact on the whole world. But the great thing is that we are doing this project with our own engineers who live in the area. We work together with the universities of applied sciences in Alkmaar and Amsterdam and our own business school plays a important role,” says Simon.
“A lot of boys and girls who are trained there will recognize the pipes. They have welded and tested them with their own hands. We can rightfully say: ‘Made in IJmuiden’.”