RIYADH: Virgin Hyperloop One (VHO) Centre of Excellence is likely to build the world’s longest hyperloop track in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
According to a joint study by VHO, the world’s leading hyperloop company and King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), the project if gets approved could add $4 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP by 2030 and is estimated to create 124,000 high-tech local jobs (in robotics and ArtificiaI Intelligence).
The hyperloop technology is expected to could cut the 10-hour-plus trip across Saudi Arabia to just 76 minutes and would be shortened to 48 minutes from 8.5 hours while traveling from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World and chairman of VHO:
“The study highlights that hyperloop is more than a high-speed connectivity for passengers and cargo. The findings have shown a positive alignment between the project and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious national economic and social development agenda. With this in mind, we are delighted to highlight this vision at the Future Investment Initiative and continue our talks with a multitude of stakeholders.”
Hyperloop vehicles, called pods would shuttle people and cargo at speeds three times faster than high-speed rail.