Vacuum tube transportation is a form of transportation without air resistance and friction. The technical principle is to build a closed pipeline on the ground or underground, and use a vacuum pump to evacuate or partially evacuate. Driving a vehicle (not necessarily a maglev train) in such an environment will greatly reduce driving resistance, effectively reduce energy consumption, and also greatly reduce aerodynamic noise, which meets the requirements of environmental protection.

1922, German engineer Herman Kemper put forward the concept of maglev train and the idea of vacuum pipeline.

The brand name of "vacuum pipeline transportation" was put forward by mechanical engineer Daryl Oster in 1990s, and obtained the patent of 1997. Since then, he has been trying to find investors to help him build this transportation system.

Shen Zhiyun, an academician of China Academy of Sciences, an academician of China Academy of Engineering and a member of the State Key Laboratory of Traction Power of Southwest Jiaotong University, said that vacuum pipeline transportation is only in the theoretical research stage, with only some design schemes, and there is no substantive technical research in the world.