Sci-fi cliche turned into reality: Hyperloop One's India plans

Imagine a small pod-like vehicle travelling through a near-vacuum environment inside a long tube. What sounds like a concept taken right off the pages of a sci-fi novel, Hyperloop One's ambitious super-fast travel concept will have us travel from Delhi to Mumbai faster than a flight. It travels at the speed of sound, which is about 1234 kms per hour.Conceptualised by SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One is in talks with the Indian government to partially build and operate the vehicle on some of the major routes of the country, the company announced at an event on Tuesday.“India turns out to be massive opportunity, we are committed to building a new mode of transportation that is point-to-point and sustainable. We want to build a production system in India. We want to make in India.” said, Rob Lloyd, CEO, Hyperloop One.Due to low pressure conditions inside the tube, coupled with a magnetic levitation system that holds the pod in place, the vehicle in a Hyperloop can touch speeds of a little more than 1,000 KM per hour.

The company has so far invested USD 32 million in the project and is already in various stages of implementation in UAE, Slovakia and the US.The company will conduct its first test of the technology in Nevada, USA later this year.In India, the company will first start with a frieght route between Kolkata and Chennai. Rob Lloyd told Busines Standard that it plans to start production work on this route by latest 2021.“These are transforming years for India. What Hyperloop One presents is a transformational technology. We would like to work as an accelerator and the government of India would be delighted to partner with this company.” said Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.The reason behind Hyperloop's interest in a country like India is to bring an inexpensive mode of transport into the country besides Railways, which takes almost a day to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for instance. It plans to build five routes across India including:1) Delhi-Mumbai in 55 minutes 2) Mumbai-Chennai in 60 minutes 3) Bengaluru-Thiruvananthapuram in 40 minutes 4) Chennai-Bengaluru in 21 minutes 5) Mumbai-Kolkata in 220 minutes