To successfully address the expected outcomes, the action to be funded under this topic should research, develop, and deliver upon all following research activities :

Work-stream 1: Safety and certification guidelines support

Within Work-stream 1 the following research activities should be carried out:

• Definition of proposals for technical safety requirements
  • Analyse the safety needs of the hyperloop technology following and supporting the work done in CEN/CLC/JTC20;
  • Collect best practices and data from the implementation of transport systems;
  • Benchmark existing safety regulatory requirements of other transport modes and define the commonalities;
  • Propose possible technical safety requirements related to infrastructure, design, operational protocols and system reliability for hyperloop systems for both passenger and freight in view of contributing to the prEN 18166:2025;
  • Specify a detailed list of possible safety requirements at the level of sub-system and component defined in the action.
• Development of a technical safety guideline proposal and input to standards:
  • Analyse the system architecture defined in Hyper4Rail and EN 17930:2024 and specify a list of key sub-system and components relevant for safety and propose a detailed system definition for future European standards;
  • Carry out a sensitivity analysis of performances/operations and safety requirements for the hyperloop system with the aim to identify the target safety level based on results coming from Hyper4Rail;
  • Analyse the safety practices from existing transport modes such as rail and aviation and propose a common risk assessment approach for risk mitigation;
  • Identify and collect hazards built on the work done in Hyper4Rail and establish a safety method taking into account safety methods from other existing transport modes such as rail and aviation;
  • Recommendations for a common safety method for operations and maintenance of the hyperloop system including methods to verify compliance with the technical safety requirements;
  • Consultation with relevant regulatory bodies and collaboration with CEN/CLC/JTC20 and if relevant with other relevant technical committees (e.g. CEN/TC 256, CLC/TC 9X, CEN/TC 391, ISO/TC 292);
• Develop a Certification Roadmap proposal:
  • Identify the legal requirements and processes for certification of future hyperloop solutions based on experience from existing transport solutions;
  • Develop a roadmap including timelines, estimated costs (taking into account also the tests performed in WS2), and high-level designs of necessary certification facilities based on the hyperloop concept developed in Hyper4Rail;
  • Propose a basic decision-making structure (Including the possibility of using existing regulatory bodies EASA, ERA) leading to the authorisation of running operation in Europe of the hyperloop new potential transport system: on regulatory, standard and industry standard levels;
  • Consultation process with regulatory bodies: EASA, ERA, and others applying relevant regulations.

Work-stream 2: Functional validation of safety components for hyperloop

Within work-stream 2 the following research activities should be carried out:

• Functional validation of key technologies, components, and subsystems critical for passenger safety in laboratory environment (TRL4), with at least:
  • Validation of control command and signalling system with special focus on the communication aspects in low frequency but high density environment;
  • Validation of at least 2 key components of the vehicle (e.g. braking systems or traction bogies) in a low pressure environment;
  • Validation of the functional interface for passenger exchange door on board the vehicle / platform screen door for passengers exit station.
• Validation of the above systems according to the defined requirements and means of verification developed in work-stream 1 and testing activities performed in view of addressing the open point identified in wok-stream 1 .Design of the procedure and test environment needed to validate all safety requirements and to apply and verify the certification process defined in work-stream 1.

null

Activities are expected to achieve a TRL 4 sub-system validation– see part B of Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 General Annexes for a guide to the TRL definitions and criteria to be used.