Virgin Hyperloop hits important milestone as it carries out first journey with passengers

Virgin Hyperloop marked a major milestone as two people became the first passangers to trial the high-speed ground technology.

The mode of transport, first proposed by Elon Musk in 2012, is a system of tubes through which a pod could travel at high speeds of up to 600-plus miles per hour.

Virgin Hyperloop held a demonstration on a 500-metre track in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas on Sunday.

Footage showed the pod carrying the passengers taking around 15 seconds to complete the test as it accelerated to more than 100 miles per hour.

The system is intended to eventually allow journeys of up to 670mph with the technology using electric propulsion, with passive magnetic levitation creating low pressure within the tube which is in near-vacuum conditions.

Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop, said: “I can’t tell you how often I get asked ‘Is Hyperloop safe?’

“With today’s passenger testing, we have successfully answered this question, demonstrating that not only can Virgin Hyperloop safely put a person in a pod in a vacuum environment, but that the company has a thoughtful approach to safety.”

Sara Luchian, director of customer experience joined chief technology officer Josh Giegel for the ground breaking journey.

Ms Luchian told BBC News the ride was “exhilarating both psychologically and physically".

She added that the trip was smooth and "not at all like a rollercoaster" but the acceleration was "zippier" than it would be with a longer track.

Virgin Hyperloop is not the only company in the race to build the first hyperloop, but it is the first to transport passengers.

A futuristic Hyperloop transport system in the UK could slash journey times across the country with a trip from Edinburgh to London cut to just 29 minutes.