Get ready to get hyper about the Hyperloop! The next age technology might come a knocking to India ferrying passengers from Bengaluru to Chennai in just half hour! This is speed travel at its fastest.
Hyperloop is a tube based travel system conceptualized in 2013 by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, which would carry passengers and freight at more than 700 miles per hour, which is around 1,100 kmph. The pod is supposed to be able to achieve this high speed owning to the vacuum inside the tubes, which are propped on concrete pillars, through which the train travels. In an announcement made recently, Hyperloop disclosed that they would be testing out the train in India through a hyperloop set up between Chennai and Bengaluru in the coming years.
The first ever Hyperloop is already in the setup phase and is being built between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The futuristic project will cut the transportation time between the cities to 12 minutes from the usual 90 minutes. The company is also looking at possibilities in the U.S.A. Although the government is a little skeptical about the venture, they are ready to support the ambitious project. “The technology, the science behind it, is very sound,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “But it’s one of those examples of, the technology may be there before the government is.”
Elon Musk has always brought the seemingly impossible to us and this piece of technology is also under the same category. But what might be interesting to see is how the company is planning to incorporate such high tech gizmo in the rugged geography of India. Sure you could find large enough plain deserts in the Middle East but Indian terrain is different. Nevertheless Hyperloop is looking at four possible segues in India: Mumbai – Chennai; Bengaluru – Thiruvananthapuram; Chennai – Bengaluru and Mumbai – Delhi.
The team is estimating to complete the operation at 72 crore rupees per kilometre but the actual costs seem to touch around 300 crore rupees for the same distance. The team justifies the cost cut downs by installing prefabricated tubes atop pillars, solar panels on top of the tubes and windmills on the pillars to tap energy. Also as the pod uses the magnetic system to move, it needs energy only when it begins the journey. The aim is to make it glide for more than 200 miles once it touches top speed.
The discussions and negotiations are still going on though. “It is difficult to fix ticket prices professionally because the government wants to keep them low. Going by the current rate of cost of construction, it will cost Rs. 6,000 to Bengaluru. The moment the fares are suggested, the government loses interest,” said a senior railway official. But even at Rs. 6,000 the deal seems alluring and it remains to be seen if this is just for the talks or we will get a taste.
