North Las Vegas will become home to a test site for a Los Angeles-based HyperLoop Technologies, which is working on a tube-based mass transit prototype.
Hyperloop agreed to locate is Propulsion Open Air Test site on 50 acres in Apex Industrial Park and intends to begin work on its new testing facility this month and begin testing in a couple months.
HyperLoop’s experimental transit system would use pods that are slightly smaller than a conventional railroad passenger car and convey passengers and freight via sealed tubes.
In theory, the pods would levitate on magnetic rails, while compressed air propels them at up to 750 mph, making a trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas last less than 30 minutes.
Hyperloop intends to start testing as soon as possible and anticipates test speeds of about 335 mph and said support from Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and the Legislature made North Las Vegas one of the first locations for the high-tech transportation company.
