Want to see a Hyperloop pod, the kind that may zip across Missouri? It’s coming to KCK

The Hyperloop is coming to Kansas City.

No, not the planned 250-mile route linking it to St. Louis in a 30-minute trip. At least not yet.

But the XP-1, the pod that was used in a Nevada test track, is making a stop in Kansas City, Kansas, on Sept. 14. It will be on display at the Kansas Speedway during the American Royal World Series of Barbecue, where the company will be highlighting its technology and the effort to bring it to Missouri.

On the Hyperloop test track in Nevada, the XP-1 was accelerated to 240 mph on a third of a mile. The technology works by electronically shooting a pod through a depressurized tube. Magnets line the tube and levitate the pod like an air hockey puck. The lack of air or friction allows it to reach an incredible speed quickly and sustain it with minimal energy.

The proposed Missouri route would connect Kansas City to Columbia to St. Louis along Interstate 70. The route is considered among the best possibilities in the country because it’s very flat, and much of the right-of-way is already owned by the state — although the project still has a long way to go.

Hyperloop One is calling the tour its “national roadshow,” as it will also be stopping at statehouses, diners, stadiums and museums along the 4,000 mile journey.

“When government and investor delegations come to our test site, seeing the technology makes it real for them. Not everyone can come to the Nevada desert, so we’re bringing our technology to the people – the American people who will be riding this new form of transportation within a decade,” wrote Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop One, in the statement announcing the roadshow.

The Missouri route became the first in the country with a completed feasibility study. The Black & Veatch report was released last year, a significant milestone in bringing the technology to the state.

This spring, Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr convened a “Blue Ribbon Panel” to find ways to speed the state’s Hyperloop route into fruition. Members include lawmakers and business leaders in the state. At the time, Haahr said the state is “significantly” ahead of all other competitors in building the first route in the U.S.

The panel is expected to announce its recommendations by September.

This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 11:44 AM.