ST. LOUIS — Virgin Hyperloop said Thursday it would build a $500 million test track in West Virginia, bypassing St. Louis and Kansas City.
But officials with both Virgin Hyperloop and the leader of Kansas City's effort to land the track say a commercial hyperloop route for Missouri could still be in play.
U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Elaine Chao on Thursday announced that West Virginia had been selected for the 12- to 15-mile test track and research center for the hyperloop system, which uses magnetic technology to allow vehicles to move up to 640 mph.
Although the testing center will not be in Missouri, Virgin Hyperloop spokesman Ryan Kelly said in an email that "we will continue to explore routes with Missouri moving forward." Kelly also said the company would continue to work with the Kansas City Tech Council, which led that region's bid for the testing center.
Ryan Weber, CEO of the KC Tech Council, said in a statement that "we are excited to continue working with Virgin Hyperloop, parallel to (the testing center, known as Hyperloop Certification Center), by building a commercial hyperloop route in the Kansas City region." Weber said the Hyperloop Certification Center "is one component of a broad, exciting slate of proposed Virgin Hyperloop projects where our Kansas City Team has made a contribution."
St. Louis and Kansas City bid separately in pursuit of the Hyperloop test track.
Kansas City advanced to the final three in consideration, Weber told the Kansas City Business Journal.
The St. Louis effort had been led by Andrew Smith of Pelopidas LLC, the lobbying firm once backed by mega-donor Rex Sinquefield. But Smith said he left Pelopidas in August and that he didn't think anyone locally worked on the project after that.
Pelopidas said it would "wind down" operations last month after Sinquefield cut ties with the firm and its principal, Travis Brown.
Smith said although a route involving St. Louis could still be possible, it would be many years out. He said St. Louis' primary pitch involved a route to Chicago, not Kansas City.
"I knew in August or July that St. Louis was not in a great position to make the final cut," Smith said. "It was death by a thousand cuts. There were a series of issues that we weren't able to overcome."
Reuters said construction on the testing location in West Virginia is slated to begin in 2022 on the site of a former coal mine in Tucker and Grant counties, with safety certification by 2025 and commercial operations by 2030.
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