Virgin Hyperloop provides more detail on W.Va. facility

TUCKER COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - If you ask the people at Virgin Hyperloop, their work isn’t just a job ... it’s their passion.

“The thing that keeps me at the company is not the tech, per se,” said Sara Luchian, director of passenger experience for Virgin Hyperloop. “We’re here because of what the tech enables.”

“This week, Virgin Hyperloop released their first glimpse of what the experience of riding the new high-speed mode of transportation will look like.”

“At the end of the day, if it’s not approachable, no one will ride it,” Luchian said. “Our dreams of creating a new mode of mass transportation that is comfortable, convenient and accessible and safe for all people, it dissipates if no one is willing to get on it.”

Virgin Hyperloop says that developing that level of approachability is exactly what the Hyperloop Certification Center in West Virginia will be used for.

“The point of the certification center is to really show and demonstrate all of those real commercial pieces that are the actual operation features of the system and prove that those are all safe,” said Virgin Hyperloop Business Development Manager Kristen Hammer.

Hammer is one of many working on the ground in West Virginia and says it will still be months before the facility breaks ground.

“This year is really us just buckling down, locking down the design, locking down the schedule, all the jobs align with that,” Hammer said. “Next year will probably be the start of construction, but it’s going to be a phased approach.”

Officials at Virgin Hyperloop also told WSAZ that more details about the project will be announced in the coming months.

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