The Virgin Hyperloop made its first journey carrying passengers Sunday, during a test the corporate claimed represented a serious revolution for the "groundbreaking" technology capable of transporting people at 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) an hour.
The Hyperloop is meant to hold passengers in small pods through a thermionic tube, with proponents arguing it could revolutionize high-speed travel.
Virgin says the Hyperloop is ready to reach top speeds of 1,080 kilometers an hour (671 mph) - projecting a 45-minute journey from la to the port of entry - and can produce no carbon emissions.
But until Sunday the technology, first proposed by eccentric US tech magnate Elon Musk in 2012, had not been tested with people on board.
Two Virgin employees made the 500-meter journey in a very two-person vehicle in precisely 15 seconds at a test site within the Nevada desert.
Passenger Sara Luchian told the BBC she felt the trip was "exhilarating both psychologically and physically", and reported no discomfort.
Once brought into regular use, the pods are going to be ready to transport up to twenty-eight people at a time, Virgin says, with larger models for moving goods also in development.
(Virgin Hyperloop)
Virgin's Hyperloop has raised quite US$400 million, largely from company CEO Richard Branson and also the logistics company DP World, which is owned by the Dubai government. Virgin is one in every variety of companies working to develop the technology.
But while Branson on Sunday hailed the success of the "groundbreaking" Hyperloop, concerns have dogged developers about just how safe the technology would be.
One researcher at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology argued that the high speeds involved could turn the Hyperloop into a "barf ride."
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