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Missouri Earns Finalist Spot In Hyperloop One Global Challenge

  • October 11, 2017

Missouri’s hopes for a futuristic, high-speed transit system connecting Kansas City and St. Louis appear to be back on track, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. In fact, according to the Kansas City Star, Missouri is in the top 5, and maybe the top 3, for securing a Hyperloop One.

Earlier his year Missouri was announced as a semifinalist in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge. However, when the company announced their list of finalist Missouri was absent.

Yet Missouri was never really out of the running, according to KC Tech Council President Ryan Weber. Rather Hyperloop One was simply waiting on information from Missouri’s Department of Transportation (MoDOT), and once the team provided more details, the Missouri route secured its finalist spot.

Approx. travel time between Kansas City and St. Louis

Now, Hyperloop One announced it has entered into a public-private partnership to conduct a feasibility study for a route connecting Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis. Organizers say the Hyperloop system could travel between Kansas City and St. Louis in about 23 minutes.

The Missouri Hyperloop Coalition is comprised of MoDOT, the St. Louis Regional Chamber, the KC Tech Council, the University of Missouri System and the Missouri Innovation Center in Columbia.

Hyperloop One is a private company with the mission of transforming transportation through its ultra-fast Hyperloop system. The tube-based autonomous transportation system uses electric propulsion to accelerate pods that levitate slightly above the track, thanks to strategically placed magnets that create magnetic fields. Additionally, it can leverage renewable energy, such as wind, solar and kinetic energy, to operate. The system would offer on-demand service, departing stations as often as every 20 seconds.

For more information on Missouri, contact Steve Johnson, CEO of Missouri Partnership, at 314.725.2688 or via our contact form, with any questions you might have, and learn how Missouri Partnership can help with your business expansion and investment needs.

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