Hyperloop Technology: Swiss Research and Leybold's Vacuum Expertise

Hyperloop Traveling Through the Vacuum at 1,000 Speed

2026-01-13 From Bernd Maienschein | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

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Swiss researchers from the Eurotube foundation aim to transport people and goods safely, environmentally friendly, and extremely fast in vacuum tubes from A to B via Hyperloop. Vacuum pioneer Leybold is therefore involved in the project. As of today ...

Not least thanks to the support of Leybold, test tracks for the Hyperloop to transport people and goods could be successfully planned and implemented. Speeds of up to 621 miles per hour (1000 km/h) are possible in the vacuum tunnel.(Image: Leybold) — Not least thanks to the support of Leybold, test tracks for the Hyperloop to transport people and goods could be successfully planned and implemented. Speeds of up to 621 miles per hour (1000 km/h) are possible in the vacuum tunnel.
(Image: Leybold)

Although the Hyperloop technology is still in the testing phase, the non-profit foundation Eurotube, founded in 2019, has since developed into a research site with 15 employees, an office, and a laboratory at the location in Dübendorf near Zurich (Switzerland). The Cologne (Germany) vacuum technology specialists from Leybold support this project with their products and extensive application knowledge. The two project partners first met in August 2017 at the Spacex Hyperloop Pod Contest in Hawthorne, California (USA), on the Spacex premises—after students from ETH Zurich prevailed over thousands of teams in Elon Musk's Spacex competition with their Swissloop concept.

We are convinced that we can make the Hyperloop project a success with our commitment.

Dr. Tom Kammermeier, Project manager at Leybold

Since the framework conditions for the project are developing dynamically, Leybold has regularly conducted calculations and simulations for Eurotube. As a result, the kick-off of the first construction phase of the Hyperloop test facility "DemoTube" could be celebrated in July 2024 at the Zurich innovation park. A vacuum pump system from Leybold, consisting of root vacuum pumps from the Ruvac WH4400 series and the dry-compressing screw vacuum pump Dryvac DV650, is currently operating on this demonstrator.

Pumping Time And Leak Rate Crucial

Crucial technological questions that needed to be answered included, for example, how long and often, and at which section of the track evacuation is required. Both the pumping time and the leak rate play a decisive role in this. The pumping time determines how quickly a Hyperloop can resume operation after the tube has been vented, and the leak rate determines how many pumps of which size need to run to maintain the operating pressure. Kammermeier: "However, this only really becomes relevant with large dimensions, which have not yet been realized today."

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