Private company dreams big with Cheyenne-to-Pueblo supersonic transit tube

Colorado Springs residents might be able to make the 70-mile trip to Denver in less than 10 minutes in the next decade if a Los Angeles-based company selects a Colorado proposal later this year as one of three locations where it will build a supersonic-speed transportation system.

Privately held Hyperloop One selected the Rocky Mountain Hyperloop, a proposal sponsored by the Colorado Department of Transportation and global engineering giant Aecom, as one of 35 semifinalist projects worldwide from 2,600 proposals to build a transportation system that will use levitation technology to push passenger pods and cargo through low-pressure tubes. The first phase of the Rocky Mountain system would connect Denver International Airport with Greeley, but the system is planned to eventually connect the entire Front Range from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Pueblo.

The Rocky Mountain system would include stops in Colorado Springs, Monument, Castle Rock, Centennial, Denver, Westminster, Boulder, Longmont, Greeley and Fort Collins. No cost estimates have been completed, nor is there a timetable for construction beyond the initial phase, said Alan Eckman, Aecom's vice president of transportation in Denver.

Hyperloop One completed an open-air test in May and is scheduled to complete a full test of the technology on a 500-meter Las Vegas testing track next month. The company plans to narrow the field to about a dozen finalists in May and select two or three projects this summer for construction that would be completed by 2021. The finalists include teams from 17 nations, including 10 other U.S. teams. The first system likely will be built in the United Arab Emirates, funded by $50 million from port operator DP World Group, to connect Dubai and Abu Dhabi to move cargo 99 miles in 12 minutes.

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