What Elon Musk’s Hyperloop could mean for PropTech
What Elon Musk’s Hyperloop could mean for PropTech
Futuristic travel could revolutionise the housing market and connect cities within minutes
Imagine if a five-hour train journey could be reduced to a mere 18 minutes? This could be a reality sooner than you’d think.
Elon Musk, of Paypal and Tesla fame has designed ‘Hyperloop,’ which he describes as a “cross between a Concorde, a railgun and air hockey table.” He believes this could be the next standard mode of transportation— after the standard trains, planes and automobiles we are all accustomed to.
The Hyperloop, which would see levitating pods travelling in near-vacuum tubes at almost the speed of sound, claims it can reduce the standard five-hour journey from London to Manchester to just 18 minutes.
And this is not just a dream.
Hyperloop One told WIRED it has held conversations with the UK government and private companies about potential routes and “there’s been quite a strong response” from the government.
“Hyperloop could connect all the great cities of the English north not just to London, but to each other,” said Hyperloop One global VP of business development Alan James. “Making Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, effectively a single city, for instance.”
More: How technology is changing almost every aspect of real estate
In his Whitepaper on the subject, Musk explains that:
“The Hyperloop (or something similar) is, in my opinion, the right solution for the specific case of high traffic city pairs that are less than about 1500 km or 900 miles apart. Around that inflection point, I suspect that supersonic air travel ends up being faster and cheaper.”
The impact this would have on real estate markets would be unprecedented.
“Hyperloop would have such a monumental impact on property and housing you could call it PropTech,” writes LendInvest.
Property values in areas with easy access to the Hyperloop would shoot up, as has always been demonstrated in the past with increased connectivity. Overcrowded markets could spread out.
So lets imagine what South East Asia might look with Hyperloops…
Getting from Bangkok to Chiangmai could be faster than getting the BTS sky train from Mo Chit to Bearing.
It would be feasible to commute daily from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
Or how about Jakarta’s notorious traffic? Would the sheer speed (not to mention novelty factor) of the Hyperloop mean people become less dedicated to their cars?
The sky (about 17 feet above ground) is the limit.
Read next: 5 of the best property tech companies
Source: Property Report