These Futuristic Tubes Can Take You From New York to Beijing in Just 2 Hours

With the current boom in futuristic transportation systems being developed by company giants like Hyperloop and Elon Musk’s Boring Company, it feels like traveling at supersonic speeds on Earth isn’t a thing of science-fiction anymore. Another addition to this upcoming industry of quick and traffic-free transport system is ET3‘s ‘space travel on earth’ futuristic tubes. A transportation utopia that will be available for everyone.

Space travel on earth

ET3 stands for Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies, which is a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of ET3 Global Alliance Inc. ET3’s ideal transportation system is clean, green, fast, comfortable, and affordable for everyone. It’s an electric car-sized passenger capsule that travels through a 1.5m diameter tube on frictionless maglev. Like Hyperloop One’s system, ET3’s futuristic tubes are permanently air-free to eliminate aerodynamic drag, which results in ultra fast speeds of up to 6,500 km/h. Yes, you read that correctly, 6,500 km/h or 4,000 mph and will allow passengers or cargo to travel from New York to Beijing in only 2 hours! However, ET3 explains that their system is not a train technology like Hyperloop’s. “We think much bigger than that”, says ET3 on their Facebook post.

The futuristic tubes are designed as a two-way system built along a travel route with airlocks at stations to allow transfer of capsules without letting air through the vacuumed tubes. The capsules are accelerated using electric motors, which are then released to freely cruise through the vacuum without using additional power. ET3’s capsules are weighted at only 183 kg but can carry up to six people or 367 kg of cargo just like an average automobile.

[Image Source: Tech Vehi via YouTube]

Daryl Oster, ET3’s CEO explains the company’s vision for the future of transportation.

“Our vision is being able to travel from, say, here in Cincinnati to the Taj Mahal in under three hours for 50 bucks. In ET3 we call it a mag-lev limo, where it’s a car-sized vehicle that operates in a network of tubes much like cars on a freeway. But, it would be international and global in scope”.

Moreover, ET3’s transportation system only require 1/20th of material to build compared to high-speed rail as the capsules are extremely lightweight. A pair of ET3 tubes is also capable of exceeding the capacity of a 32-lane freeway because of automated passive switching. Significant reduction in the construction cost of ET3 is also promised by the company at 1/10th the cost of high-speed rail, or 1/4th the cost of a freeway.

[Image Source: ET3]

Currently, ET3’s priority is to finalize the location to build the transport system that will demonstrate a 600 km/h (375 mph) operation. They require a 3-mile straight right-of-way passage to showcase the elements needed to network ET3 on a regional basis. In their Facebook post, ET3 mentioned that India and China are the “most promising places for initial system implementation”.  They also said that “attractive routes will be between major cities, over unpopulated flat, dry terrain, below the latitudes where the ground freezes”.