Due to fast-paced modernisation and mass migration from rural to urban areas, it has become a huge challenge for the Indian government to provide reliable means of transportation in metro cities.
The government has been looking for alternative means of transportation and the answer could be the ‘HyperLoop’ which theoretically can reach speeds of upto 700 mph or about 1100 km/h.
According to the latest development shared by VirginHyperloop One, which is one of the companies working on the development of this technology believes that the decision of building Mumbai to Pune Hyperloop project will soon be finalised.
Officials in the state of Maharashtra have named Virgin Hyperloop One and its partner, DP World as originators of multi-billion dollar project. The government is soon expected to launch an official bidding process to accept offers from potential builders and contractors. And clearly, Virgin Hyperloop expects to turn out the winner.
Noteworthy, once the project is finished, the travel time between two cities i.e Pune to Mumbai will drop down to just 35 minutes which is significantly lower than 3.5 hours, it usually takes to commute via car.
The Hyperloop project in India will not be constructed from the taxpayer money. Instead, DP world will spend about 500 million to complete the initial phase of the project. While the remaining amount of money will be garnered in from other investors.
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Equally important is the fact that Hyperloop is still in the development stages and it has not been commercially implemented in any other part of the world until now. Hence, Indian government officials will thoroughly study the project before it is actually sanctioned.
To sum it up, there are still several hurdles that are preventing the Hyperloop One project from turning into a reality in India. Nonetheless, the indications given by Virgin Hyperloop One states that the project will kick off soon.
What are your thoughts on the introduction of the superfast Hyperloop One in India? Let us know in the comments below.
The concept of the Hyperloop was promoted by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink. Basically, the Hyperloop works by impelling the wheel-less pods through a tube which is maintained at near-vacuum or extremely low pressure. It ensures minimal air resistance and friction, implying that the power needed to propel such a pod is reduced massively. Magnetic Levitation or MAGLEV is the technology that ensures ‘zero contact’ between the pod and the tracks. As stated by the company, the pod glides at airline-like speeds for long distances, thanks to very low aerodynamic drag. The Hyperloop is currently being funded by organizations like DP World, Caspian VC and the Virgin Group. Till date, the project has raised almost US$295 million.
Quite a fair amount of concerns surround the technology. For instance, questions arose regarding the construction of the tubes and the safety issues that accompany them. As per the company, Hyperloop is completely weatherproof, with tubes that can withstand almost 100 Pa of pressure without getting punctured. The tubes are made out of thick strong steel, and can safely stand strong against any forms of weather disturbances. In the rare case that there is any leak in the tube, a power boost would get the pod to the next station. Environmental concerns are not going to be a problem, the company states. It reports that carbon emissions are almost zero and the only sound you’ll hear from the pod travelling through the tube is a silent ‘whoosh’, something that you might hear when something fast passes by your ear.
The company believes that it will achieve extensive Hyperloop connectivity in different cities across the world by mid-2020s. India based DGWHyperloop suggests a Hyperloop corridor between Mumbai and Delhi, that would include the cities of Indore, Kota and Jaipur. A lot of certifications are still pending for this futuristic mode of transport, the company claims. Apart from transporting people, it can also make transporting goods faster than it ever was. Logistics will benefit a lot from the Hyperloop network. The company assures that once Hyperloop is on the roll, the tickets will be affordable as far as the pricing is concerned. 
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