5th March 2018 The secretary of state for transport “can see hyperloop providing a very good high speed ‘airport to the city centre’ type service” apparently. The revolutionary transport concept made famous by tech billionaire Elon Musk – the Yorkshire Post reported – ‘uses an electric motor to accelerate an electromagnetically levitated pod through a low-pressure tube, which could theoretically reach speeds of up to 670mph with no air resistance.’

But the YP was scathing in its response: “It is a damning indictment of Mr Grayling that he is not only failing to deliver [an efficient network that enables commuters and freight carriers] to get to work and do business, but attempting to compensate for his shortcomings by entering the realms of fantasy in suggesting that a so-called hyperloop system could connect Leeds Bradford International Airport with the city centre at some unspecified point in future.”

“This theoretical notion is nothing short of ludicrous. How can a senior politician possibly suggest that an untried, experimental transport system provides any solution whatsoever to the pressing problems of today? Such a suggestion can only serve to diminish Mr Grayling’s already low standing in Yorkshire even further.”

Read more here.