[Retric]

While it might seem like a vacume the amount of air left in the tube makes it far cheaper to operate. It's one of those 1 +/- .001 foot rod is not that expencive but a 1 +/- .0001 foot rod is getting there and a 1 +/- .00001 foot rod even more so. Basicly vacume pumps cost more, use more energy, become more delicate, and move less air the closer you get to hard vacume.

However, there is still plenty of air in the tube to be an issue at the proposed speeds thus making Hyperloop cheaper and more complex than a traditional vacume transport.