www.teslamotors.com/blog/hyperloop
details @ Gizmodo
SpaceX founder Elon Musk unveils plans for Hyperloop
The Hyperloop Transportation System consists of a capsule that can carry 28 passengers, steel tubes that will carry the capsule in two directions and a propulsion system, which will travel on a custom route. In Musk's example, the ideal route between Los Angeles and San Francisco is along California's I-5. Traveling at 760 miles per hour, Hyperloop would be able to carry 840 passengers per hour.
Musk believes the best way of creating a faster mode of transport is to design a special environment for vehicles to travel.
The design would create a low pressure system inside of the tubes, to create an atmosphere with less dense air -- having one-sixth the pressure of the atmosphere of Mars. Hyperloop's capsules would be supported using a compressed air reservoir and aerodynamic lift.
An electric air compressor fan mounted in the front of a passenger capsule would transfer high pressure air from the front to the rear of the vehicle, relieving air pressure and create a low friction suspension system.
Hyperloop Physics Questions and Answers @ Wired
This Is the Hyperloop, Elon Musk’s Fantastical Vision of Mass Transit @ Wired
