To add to that, one of the major problems was that due to the political power structure (state vs federal government etc.), a no-stop trip on the direct route w

To add to that, one of the major problems was that due to the political power structure (state vs federal government etc.), a no-stop trip on the direct route wasn’t viable political. So the DB basically opted for refurbishing the existing track, because that did not need political approval on any level - the track existed and no new permits were required. All of this would be issues that hyperloop would have to face as well. None of these are in any way related to the underlying technology. In addition, there’s extremely few routes in germany where 300km/h vs. 500km/h top speed makes a significant difference. The latest generation of ICE trains trades a lower top speed for faster acceleration. We’re a small country with comparatively short distances between population centers.