people who were able to band together and present a proposal that was beneficial for both the citizens of West Virginia and Virgin Hyperloop as well .”
According to Mike Graney , executive director of the WVDO , his office and its representatives championed the state as the best potential site for the certification center and have been a catalyst in the process , maintaining a relationship with Virgin Hyperloop by fulfilling information requests , traveling to the testing site in Nevada and helping select the West Virginia site .
“ It ’ s not necessarily easy to find a relatively flat stretch that runs for six and a half miles in West Virginia ,” says Graney . “ We struggled with finding exactly what they wanted , but then we identified this facility in Grant and Tucker counties . It made a lot of sense , a former coal mining site and a brownfield . The Hyperloop team was excited about having the opportunity to use the former coal mining site and a brownfield and repurpose that property .”
Western Pocahontas Properties will donate the 800 acres of land for the project , meaning imminent domain will not be a factor in gathering resources for the location . A bonus for the Virgin Hyperloop team in choosing West Virginia as the working site is its collective love of the outdoors .
“ This staff of young engineers likes to live , they like to work , and they like to play — and a lot of them like to play outside ,” says Graney . “ Many of them are rock climbers , mountain bikers and fly fisherman , and when it comes to that , West Virginia wins .”
Virgin Hyperloop One , the pod used for testing .
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The Virgin Hyperloop testing site in Nevada .
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