Pioneering Northern Arc Announced as Winner

An ideas competition, the Hyperloop One Global Challenge called for compelling opportunities where practical application of this evolving technology could be explored.  The Northern Arc presents an economic opportunity to expand the concept of the Northern Powerhouse to include the Scottish Central Belt.  Linking major cities across the North of England and Scotland, the innovative technology would allow passengers to travel between all cities in a little over 45 minutes.  This would create a pan Northern City region, with a population in excess of 10 million people, that is able to compete on the world economic stage.

Working alongside other current transport improvements, the team believe the Hyperloop concept has the potential to help keep future generations moving and to transform connectivity across the north.  As technologies such as Hyperloop emerge and develop, the team is passionate that the UK is at the forefront of innovation.

Paul Bell, partner at Ryder said, “We are hugely excited to be selected to collaborate with Hyperloop One on this transformational proposal.  Hyperloop One are progressing the proof of concept work in Nevada at an incredible pace.  The north gave the world railway technology and we are passionate about making sure the north is at the forefront of the next generation of transport innovation, developing skills, expertise and system components that will be exported around the world.”

Martin Butterworth, Arup: “Progress in infrastructure and connectivity is intrinsic to the economic success of the UK. We need to be investing in current technologies to meet our transport needs today and into the future. But it is important also to be able to imagine where we need to be in the next 50, 75 or even a hundred years. We must always look over the next horizon at early-stage technologies that have the potential to improve the lives of generations to come. We believe Hyperloop is one such technology and worthy of further exploration.”

The Northern Arc team draws on international knowledge and expertise coupled with a deep understanding of geographic, historic, political and economic context to make this proposal realistic and achievable.

Further details of the next phases for the winning programmes will emerge over the coming months.