A capsule has been propelled through a hyperloop test tube in a step forward for the transit system

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Hyperloop has achieved significant liftoff in the northern Netherlands

VEENDAM, Netherlands — Hyperloop, a new form of mass transit involving capsules whizzing on magnetic fields through depressurized tubes, has achieved significant liftoff in the northern Netherlands, a company developing the technology said Monday.

A test vehicle was levitated and zipped through a tube at a testing facility for the high-speed transit system once promoted by Elon Musk.

“So today, with the first successful test, we were able to levitate the vehicle, also turn on the guidance system and the propulsion system," Marinus van der Meijs, the technology and engineering director at hyperloop company Hardt, told The Associated Press late last week before Monday's formal announcement.

The European Hyperloop Center's 420-meter (460-yard) tube is made up of 34 separate sections mostly 2½ meters (more than eight feet) in diameter. A vacuum pump sucks out the air to reduce the internal pressure. That reduces drag and allows capsules to travel at high speeds.

Hyperloop developers aim to have capsules speeding through tubes at up to 700 kph (435 mph). Its backers say it's far more efficient than short-haul flights, high-speed rail and freight trucks, but it will involve significant investment in infrastructure.

So far, in the limited space offered by the test center, the speed has been modest.

Once the capsule was in place in the tube, “we launched it with an acceleration similar to that of a metro, up to a top speed of about 30 kph (18 mph), about 100 meters (more than 300 feet) in the pipe,” Van der Meijs added.

Even so, it's a milestone that required some careful conducting.

“The most difficult things that we are doing now is to test all of these