text: The word vacuum is not mentioned once yet is the most important factor for the viability of this technology.
  
  Creating a vacuum tube over hundreds of kilometers including difficult terrain that is not only safe for human travel but commercially viable has never even been close to a reality. The SpaceX competition just showed how flimsy this idea is yet governments are spending money on it.
  
  A viable tech already exists - high speed rail. The issue is cost which hyperloop does nothing to address.