The company working on building a 5-mile stretch of Hyperloop test track in California’s Central Valley has announced it will begin construction in May 2016.
California-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies said Thursday it would break ground on the privately funded transportation project in Kings County and also announced three new partnerships to assist with development of the Hyperloop, which aims to transport passengers in pods that travel up to 750 mph.
Tech Insider reports HTT’s new partners will include a Swiss firm that builds high-tech vacuums and Southern California-based architecture firm Hodgetts + Fung, best known for their work on the new Hollywood Bowl and renovation of the Egyptian Theater.
HTT announced its plan to build a test track north of Los Angeles at a site called Quay Valley earlier this year, but didn’t give a clear timeline of when construction would begin until Thursday.
Passengers could be using the system as soon as 2018, the company said.
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk first introduced the Hyperloop concept in 2013. With a functional Hyperloop, passengers would be able to travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in just a half hour.
