Virgin Hyperloop One to build certification center in West Virginia

For the nascent hyperloop technology, VHO said this announcement marks a major step forward in its efforts to gain certification and start commercial service. The company said it is aiming to achieve safety certification by 2025 and begin commercial operations in 2030. And has touted its bipartisan, bicameral support over the past few years from elected leaders at various levels of government who see it as a job creator, a way to alleviate crushing traffic congestion and an innovative way to get around.

With VHO having found routes feasible in various states including Missouri and a corridor between Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the company said this HCC is the next step towards getting commercial service with 670 mile-per-hour speeds up and running. And West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, R, said the HCC gives the state a national leadership role in those efforts towards commercialization.

"It is truly about more than West Virginia or our nation," Justice said at the press conference. "It is about transforming transportation, it is an idea, it is America at its best, for the entire world."