With the establishment of the European joint CEN/CENELEC technical committee in February 2020 the hyperloop industry gained a vehicle to not only develop standards, but at the same time generate public acceptance for the new technology.
A key feature in the development of a European Standard (ENs), and one from which it gains strength and legitimacy, is consensus of all interested parties. Standardization of the hyperloop systems at the JTC20 ‘Hyperloop Systems’ is an open process to anyone including but not limited to small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations, academia, government agencies and interest groups willing to voluntarily participate and contribute to hyperloop standards drafting and development. Standardization organizations such as NEN, DIN, UNE make sure involvement of all relevant stakeholders and ensure that the standardization processes are followed. The participating experts have the most influence on the content and agreements on the published standards.
‘Standardization is not “l’art pour l’art” and standards are triggered and respond to market needs.’ Carl Bildt report.
Standardization leadership
Participation in the JTC20 is done through national committees. This has resulted in the establishment of many national committees throughout Europe. In the Netherlands, Hardt’s Vlora Rexhepi is leading the national committee as the chair person.
At Hardt through our participation and through our network we strive for and encourage high participation rate of various experts in the standards development. Such participation will not only improve the content and quality of standards, but it will at the same time generate support for the commercial realization of hyperloop.
First hyperloop standards
Following the systems engineering approach to standardization, the JTC20 members agreed to work on a set of five standard projects. The standardization of the hyperloop system as a new transport mode calls for a reference architecture to be developed first, by defining all the systems and subsystems of hyperloop, as well as defining the requirements and services for the transport of passengers and cargo.
All five projects are being led by key hyperloop developers. Hardt is leading the Hyperloop Transport Services one.
Read more here.
First proposals for Hyperloop European Standards (EN).
Overview and vocabulary
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to describe and define general vocabulary used for a hyperloop system, and subsystems. Hyperloop is a new mode of ground transportation, defining related vocabulary will be helpful for clear communication and cooperation of companies developing individual subsystems.
Scope
The document provides a nomenclature and definitions needed for hyperloop system related standards. This document will be the basis to set the general vocabulary definitions for the hyperloop system as a whole.
Generic system requirements for hyperloop systems
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to describe and define the high-level requirements for the hyperloop concept. The hyperloop is a new mode of transportation for high speed ground transportation and low pressure closed environment. These features imply to have commercial operations with passengers in conditions that never have been considered before what leads to the need of creating new standards and requirements to influence in all the stages of the development.
Scope
This document provides a general view of the most relevant requirements to ensure safety, reliability, system automation, security, comfort, interoperability and operations of the hyperloop system used for the transport of passengers and goods. This document will be the basis to set the general common requirements for the hyperloop system as a whole.
Hyperloop System Aspects – reference architecture
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to describe and define system aspects of a hyperloop system. The document will define the reference architecture of the system, its subsystems and interfaces. The main purpose is to develop an architecture for this novel mode of transportation that can be used by different stakeholders to develop different aspects of a hyperloop system. The objective is to specify the functions of each (sub)system to define the purpose of each block and will highlight how the (sub)systems support each other, and interface to each other.
Scope
This work item specifies the reference architecture for a hyperloop system. It will specify the functions of each (sub)system to define the purpose of each block, its different possible implementations, and will highlight how the (sub)systems support each other. The interfaces of the transportation system will be listed, whether it be internal interfaces or exterior interfaces. The characterization considers the technical as well as operational features of the transport service.
Standards Inventory and roadmap
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to describe and define the transport services enabled by the hyperloop system. The hyperloop is a new mode of transportation for large volumes of passengers and cargo. As such there are two main types of hyperloop transport services: one for transporting passengers and the other one for transporting cargo. These services are having fundamentally different characteristics from each other. These characteristics impose different requirements on the hyperloop system. Different aspects of each service in relation to the hyperloop system need to be analyzed and specified. A standardized method to clearly distinguish between those by specifying the attributes that characterize each of these services is necessary for the concept of operation of the hyperloop system.
Scope
Hyperloop is a novel mode of transport and as such its transport services will be relevant for all stakeholders. Seen that the development of standards will be done at the same time as the development of the hyperloop technology there will be no immediate impact to the stakeholders. However, all the stakeholders will benefit in various way from the hyperloop system and its transport services.
Hyperloop transport services
Purpose
The purpose of this document is three-fold:
- gather all relevant existing standards to
- identify the standards that can be utilized, need amending and the ones that need to be developed
- provide a standardization roadmap for hyperloop systems.
The hyperloop is a new mode of transportation for large volumes of passengers and cargo. The expectation is that there will be several standards that need to be developed to support the different aspects of the technology. However, there are quite some standards from different areas that may be applicable as defined or by developing an amendment specifically for hyperloop systems. A standards inventory will be created taking these standards into account. This inventory will be used as input to the standardization roadmap for hyperloop systems.
Scope
This document lists the relevant standards from various fields and provides a standardization roadmap for hyperloop systems. The roadmap will provide guidance on the applicable standards from various fields, those that need amending and the new-to be developed standards.
