US startup Hyperloop One at its Vision for India event on Tuesday discussed how the high-speed transportation system could help in transportation in India. The event, as expected, saw presence of chief guest Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways, and keynote speaker Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog, at the event. Hyperloop One claims Hyperloop can "reinvent and transform transportation in India" by connecting major cities at "faster-than-airline speeds".
“It’s like a physical broadband,” says Nick Earle, SVP Global Field Operations for Hyperloop One – a company working towards building functional hyperloop systems in the world. The technology uses electric propulsion to levitate pods carrying passengers or goods at a low-cost, energy-efficient, and safe manner. After kick starting the pilot project in Los Angeles, Hyperloop One, now intends to bring the technology to India and make it one of the first countries in the world to embrace the futuristic mode of transportation.
The project with alternate mode of transport is based on the hyperloop technology – the brainchild of Tesla CEO Elon Musk – and is aimed at delivering fast yet affordable mode of transportation for moving passengers and goods. Hyperloop One, as a company is working towards commercializing the technology by building a network of fast, reliable, clean, and on-demand autonomous transport. At the ‘Vision for India’ summit, Hyperloop One discussed the country’s most promising hyperloop routes.
What is hyperloop?
Hyperloop is Elon Musk’s idea for a transformational transport system. Musk likens the idea to a cross between a Concorde and a railgun and an air hockey table. The technology allows pod-like vehicles to travel through a near-vacuum tube at more than airline speed. The concept of having futuristic high-speed vehicles is not something new as we have seen with the Japenese Maglev trains which are capable of reaching dizzying speeds of 603 kmph. However, in hyperloop technology, the pods are supported by ‘skis’, which receive air from the suction fan, and use this air to push against the inner walls of the transportation tube to levitate the pod.
As an open-source idea, hyperloop technology is being explored by a bunch of manufactures of which Hyperloop One claims to be the only company in the world building a commercial hyperloop system. Hyperloop One was incorporated in 2014 and its core founding and engineering team has strong connections with Musk and SpaceX and hence, is indirectly associated with the person behind the revolutionary idea. It is headquartered in Los Angeles and led by CEO Rob Lloyd and co-founded by Executive Chairman Shervin Pishevar and President of Engineering Josh Giegel.
The hyperloop technology concept was first proposed in 2013 and Hyperloop One is claimed to be the first company on track to bring the world’s first full-system test in 2017 in Nevada. In a country like India, with a population of over a billion and multiple modes of transportation co-existing, there still lies a huge scope of a transportation system that is not only disruptive but builds on the idea of safe, high-speed, sustainable and on-demand transport system that is also integrated with the existing modes of transport. The idea here is to make transportation system airline-fast at the cost of bus tickets.
Despite having the fourth-longest railway network in the world after US, China and Russia, India’s railway system is far from being called a high-speed with maximum speeds reaching mere 150-160 kmph. The country’s dynamic geography restricts how a person or cargo can be moved across the length and breadth of the nation, and the journey entails longer travel periods, sometimes including multiple modes of transport. With hyperloop, the distance between cities and towns will essentially come down to minutes.
Additionally, when distance will transform into minutes, it will also mean a decrease in migration and increase in productivity. For a person getting a job offer in a different city would no longer mean shifting out of the current city. With the transformative system in place, the time taken to travel between cities will technically become as mundane as perhaps boarding a bus or hailing an auto ride.
Currently, five corridors in India have been identified as the testing waters for the futuristic transport system. These have been selected based on a global challenge conducted by Hyperloop One which witnessed maximum registrations from India. The semi-finalist teams from the country, which includes entrepreneurs, engineers, and other stakeholders, have proposed the system to be applied for five corridors include:
- Bengaluru to Chennai, covering 334 km distance in just 20 minutes for freight and passengers
- Bengaluru to Thiruvananthapuram, covering 736 km in 41 minutes. In this proposed network, the line will also connect two major ports in Southern India.
- Delhi to Mumbai, via Jaipur and Indore, covering 1,317 km in 55 minutes and connecting two megacities.
- Mumbai to Chennai, via Bengaluru, covering 1,102 km in 50 minutes and creating a Suez Canal-like link between India’s coasts
- Bengaluru to Chennai, 334 km in 20 minutes, for passengers and freight.
Using the hyperloop technology will essentially transform these cities which are miles apart into metro stops. The urban area, which today consumes an average of 3 hours of travel between cities, will shrink to just 15 minutes with hyperloop systems. Along with bringing down the travel time, the technology also aims to offer a one-stop platform that delivers connectivity and inter-operability.
“India is an extremely important geography for developing Hyperloop networks and reimagining how cities and regions work. The Prime Minister’s vision of connecting the country is directly aligned with Hyperloop One’s objective of connecting the world. With initiatives such as ‘Make In India’ and ‘Digital India’, we do see ourselves working in this direction in India,” says Shervin Pishevar, Executive Chairman of Hyperloop One.
Rob Lloyd, CEO of Hyperloop One, said, "Hyperloop One will help accelerate India's growth towards building substantial infrastructure that is both financially and environmentally sustainable. A transportation system like the Hyperloop will undoubtedly ease the pressure on existing infrastructure while enhancing the quality of life of the people. We are already working with the governments around the world on passenger and freight projects, and we look forward to also partnering with India to support this endeavour."
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