California will get the Hyperloop test track, but here's the bad news...

Five mile track will begin construction within weeks.

Elon Musk is having a test track for his "Hyperloop" passenger pods will be built in California, starting within the next few weeks. The Hyperloop is an experimental transportation system that could move passengers along a track at speeds exceeding 700 MPH.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Elon Musk, the billionaire inventor behind PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX, is now starting work on his Hyperloop project with the construction of the first test track in California. A second test track will be built in Texas. Construction is scheduled to begin within weeks.

The Hyperloop will transport people at 745 MPH, which is faster than the speed of sound. Passengers could get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than 30 minutes, a trip that takes about an hour by plane and over seven hours by car.

The passengers will travel in pods that sit just 6-8 people. The pods are sent through a giant vacuum tube which removes air resistance and makes the tremendous speeds possible. A new capsule could be sent every 30 seconds, according to Musk, and tickets would only cost $20 each way.

The cost of connecting the two metropolises via hyperloop could exceed $100 billion, but could supercharge the economies of both cities and the entire state.

The test track will span five miles, and pods will only reach about 160 MPH in tests. If the technology proves workable, a second test track in Texas will allow other designers to test various pod designs for the Hyperloop.

The bad news is the Hyperloop could then be built in several other countries, but is less likely to be built in the USA because of regulatory hurdles. This means that the Hyperloop could be developed in the USA, but will first be built and used in China. There's no idea when it will be available in the States.

California is getting its own high-speed rail program, which will move passengers at well over 100 miles an hour up the San Joaquin Valley from Bakersfield to San Francisco. The system has already started construction and will eventually connect to Los Angeles, and likely Las Vegas. However, the system is expected to run over both budget and time, and is still being resisted by Republicans in the state legislature and by local communities which continually sue as a stalling tactic. Homes and businesses will need to be relocated to provide right-of-way for the trains.

The Hyperloop would compete with this system, and could even be faster and cheaper than the high speed rail. However, high speed rail technology is proven while the Hyperloop is still a concept.

Construction of the test track should be complete within two-and-a-half years.

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