AN MP has been accused of complacency and being out of touch after he claimed the possible use of ‘Hyperloop’ technology to cut journey times in the North was fanciful and ridiculous.

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald dismissed the business-led think tank Policy North’s suggestion that the Hyperloop One project, being developed in the US by entrepreneur Elon Musk, could replace the Government’s HS2 rail project.

But Policy North has now hit back describing Mr McDonald’s views as “depressing” and a “sad indictment of the current state of political aspiration for the North”.

It has been claimed Hyperloop, a form of passenger/freight transportation which involves pods travelling up to 740mph through sealed tubes in a vacuum, with zero air resistance or friction could cut travel time between Newcastle and London to just over half-an-hour.

Middlesbrough MP Mr McDonald said the Government was doing the right thing with HS2, which campaigners hope can be extended to create in effect a Crossrail for the North, linking its major towns and cities.

He said Hyperloop was inappropriate for the UK and a total waste of time, citing the difference in topography and geography between the US and UK.

A spokesman for Policy North said: “It is very depressing to hear such complacency on exciting new technology developments that the North-East should be at the forefront of.

“It is exactly that kind of thinking that has held the North East back for decades, while London has pushed ahead with multi-billion projects such as Crossrail.

“In the last few days, Elon Musk successfully tested a Hyperloop pod in the US and Dubai is on course to have an operational Hyperloop system by 2020.

“So to claim that Hyperloops are fanciful is plain wrong and frankly out of touch.

“The North used to lead the way on transport developments and we can do so again.

“What a sad indictment of the current state of political aspiration for the North that some of our politicians are not even prepared to engage with new ideas and the latest technology.”

The North East Chamber of Commerce, which represents thousands of businesses in the region, is also backing HS2 and the next stages of high speed rail and previously said it would have a huge part to play in unlocking the region’s economic potential.

But it said that with the Transport for the North – the organisation drawing up a strategic plan for transforming the region’s transport networks – looking ahead as far as 2050, it was also important to consider how new and emerging technologies, such as Hyperloop, could fit into such a long term vision.