[throwaways85989]

It was ever just a hype photo operation, to prevent good public transport from taking hold / being invested in?

[panick21_]

I would suggest you read this article:

https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-cali...

Basically, one person made that accusation but its not really true.

[yostrovs]

Hyperloop seems to have been made to prevent California high speed rail. That the rail was "good" is difficult to make a case for.