The Hyper-loop project plans to start works in Antequera in March of next year

The works will consist in adapting the old ships that were going to serve for the railway ring in a laboratory for the future supersonic train

The project for the implantation of a test bench of Virgin Hyperloop One in the ships of Adif in Bobadilla, that were going to serve for the railway ring, is in march. Executives of the US company yesterday made a tour of the main points where the project is going to be implemented, and where a good part of the necessary decisions will be taken, that is, in Antequera and Seville.

From the second meeting, with the Minister of Development, Felipe López, no information was disclosed, neither by the Board nor by the investors. But in the first, which was held in the City Hall of Antequera, there were important conclusions.

And the main one is that, if all the necessary circumstances are met -especially, the approval of the public aid that they have requested- the intention of the multinational is to start the laboratory works in March of next year, that is, in just seven months. In this way, it would be operational by the end of 2019.

This was announced at the end of this first meeting by the mayor of Antequera, Manuel Barón. The objective is to create in the two warehouses, of 19,000 square meters, a technological center that will develop, test and certify components and subsystems to improve the safety and reliability of Hyperloop. "In March they want to start the adaptation works of the Adif ships and develop them until the end of 2019 so that at the end of the year the project is one hundred percent," he said.

Available infrastructures

On the part of Virgin Hyperloop One participated in the meeting YJ Fischer, responsible for international expansion; and Luis González, head of Iberian Hyperloop Infrastructures, representative of the entity in Spain. On the other side, along with the alderman were the lieutenants of mayor José Ramón Carmona and Teresa Molina.

Among the main interests of the visitors were to get to know the city where they will be installed and the infrastructures available to the engineers who develop the adaptation. Among others, they asked about issues such as the availability of water resources and electricity and road access to the municipality and the land where the Adif ships are located in Bobadilla. In addition, they were interested in knowing the availability of other services, such as hotels, apartments, training rooms and the resources of the city to welcome the more than 200 engineers - from the United States and from different parts of the world - who will start with the development of Hyperloop in Málaga.

The managers were interested in communications and accommodation

"It is the first of many visits and meetings that they want to develop," explained Barón. After a meeting of more than two hours, executives accepted the invitation of the City Council to visit the monumental city, with visits to the churches of San Juan de Dios, Los Remedios and the old collegiate church of Santa María, to finish tasting the porche antequerana. "They have been delighted because they have seen that Antequera has all the infrastructure to develop the investment they want to make," said Manuel Barón.

The Malaga office will develop, test and certify components and subsystems for the safety and reliability of Hyperloop. In this regard, Josh Giegel, co-founder and director of technology of Virgin Hyperloop One, after signing the agreement with Adif, reported that these facilities will be very important for the project: "For Hyperloop to be commercially viable, it must be safe and reliable: Safety is our number one priority, "he said. "Ultimately, the center will help us meet our first projects and scale to meet future demand around the world."