Hyperloop: Could this be the answer to Leeds's transport problems?
the former leader of Leeds City Council has called for a revolutionary method of public transport to come to the city.
Coun Keith Wakefield (Lab) hopes futuristic hyperloop technology, in which passengers can travel at up to 600mph, could be in Leeds in the next 20 years.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling had suggested the technology could be used to ferry passengers between Leeds city centre and Leeds Bradford Airport.
And now Coun Wakefield, the former West Yorkshire Combined Authority transport committee chairman, has joined the chorus of support for the cutting-edge mode of transport.
He said: “There is actually a hyperloop being built in the Middle East. So could it be done? Yes, it could be done.”
He added: “The only thing I would say is that it would be an interesting feeling for people being sucked along a tube – I am still not sure people will want to travel at 1,000 kilometres (600mph) per hour!”
The transport concept was made famous by tech billionaire Elon Musk. It uses an electric motor to push an electromagnetically levitated pod through a low-pressure tube, reaching speeds of up to 670mph.
Coun Wakefield’s comments come after revelations last week that Leeds City Council hopes to build a new mass transit system in the distant future.
While the authority’s head of transport Coun Richard Lewis (Lab) stopped short of mentioning hyperloop, he said: “Other mass transit might be very different to what we have been talking about for the past few decades.”