Thanks to Richard Branson, India Will Soon Catch a Ride On Hyperloop Under $150 The increasing demand for faster transportation is one of the driving factors for the growth of major key players in this technology
By Nidhi Singh
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There is a big question mark when it comes to the problem of transportation in India, it's chaotic and out of date. The problem is that pace of our infrastructure has not been able to cope in with the rapid population explosion, but now things are changing and after the introduction of metros and bullet train, we are set to something even better. That's the thing of the future, the Hyperloop. The increasing demand for faster transportation is one of the driving factors for the growth of major key players in this technology.
The latest contender is Richard Branson-led Virgin Hyperloop One, which aims to price hyperloop rides in India for less than USD 150, Bloomberg reported. Though the total cost is little more expensive than first class train tickets but definitely cheaper than the airline charges.
Harj Dhaliwal, Hyperloop One's Managing Director for the Middle East and India, was recently quoted as saying in an interview to Bloomberg, "India is a super price sensitive market," he said. "We are in the process of price modeling. We want to keep fares as low as possible to stimulate demand but not so cheap that will drive away financial or private investors from the project."
The Hyperloop concept operates by sending specially designed "Capsules" or "pods" through a steel tube maintained at a partial vacuum. The technology is the brainchild of Tesla's Elon Musk, who open-sourced the basic design in 2013 in the form of a whitepaper.
The Hyperloop Race Heats Up:
It's not only Branson who is pitching to the Indian government to implement the technology, another player, Bibop G. Gresta , Chairman & Co-founder of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is in talks with the authorities to build the Hyperloop transport system in India. A few days back, the US-based company was in news proposing a route connecting Anantapura-Amaravati-Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam as part of (around 700-800 kilometer) integrated Public Transit system.
Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop:
In February this year, Hyperloop One along with Maharashtra announced to build the world's first operational hyperloop by 2025 between Pune and Mumbai, beginning with an operational demonstration track.
It was stated that the Hyperloop route would link central Pune, Navi Mumbai International Airport, and Mumbai in 25-minutes and connect 26 million people. Supporting 150 million passenger trips per year, it would also help create a thriving, competitive mega-region. Branson's hyperloop mode will be for the masses, conducting 150 million passenger trips every year. But it's not only Maharashtra where the Hyperloop transportation will soon become a reality.
Earlier in September 2017, Andhra Pradesh had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gresta-led Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) to build a hyperloop route between Amaravati and Vijayawada.
In a time where India's first bullet train seems like a far-fetched dream, it will be interesting to see who will win the race for building the first hyperloop route.
