Hyperloop Vision Gets Jolt of Energy With HTT’s Italian Deal

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc., one of the startups trying to build the high-speed transportation system dreamed up years ago by Elon Musk, won a bid to build a prototype in northern Italy.

The Venetian Motorway Concession, a regional highway operator known as CAV, has awarded HyperloopTT and its partners an €800 million ($868 million) three-part tender that could eventually lead to a hyperloop along at least a portion of the 40 kilometer (25 mile) route from Padua to Venice, HyperloopTT said.

The Hyperloop TT deal could bring new energy into a technology and company where enthusiasm has dimmed recently. Founded in 2013 and ...