First Hyperloop track to be announced this year

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Dirk Ahlborn, chief executive officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), speaks during the 18th Nikkei Global Management Forum in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016.

The boss of a Hyperloop company said Tuesday that he hopes to announce the location of the first commercial track for the technology as early as this year.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) CEO Dirk Ahlborn revealed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that his firm is on the brink of a major announcement.

“This is going to be a busy year. We are expecting to announce the first commercial track this year,” he said.

HTT is one of the companies developing Elon Musk’s idea for super-fast transport. The transport system concept works by propelling pods through tubes using magnets, reaching speeds akin to those of airplanes. Several companies are working to develop the idea.

Ahlborn would not be drawn into an early reveal, but conceded that locations in Asia and the Middle East may provide more of an obvious economic solution.

He said the real test of building a Hyperloop is creating fresh safety regulations to cover the new technology. But he added that if those hurdles can be overcome, then he expects public use could happen within three years.

A passenger capsule to run on the Hyperloop track is expected to be complete by the summer, Ahlborn said, adding that the manufacturing process is well underway.

“It should be ready by mid-year, it is basically like building an airplane and that takes about a year,” he said.