20/2/2018
PUNE: Before
starting on the ambitious hyperloop project between Pune and Mumbai, Richard
Branson's Virgin Group will be constructing a demonstration track. The track
will be 10 km long and will run between Hinjewadi IT Park and Old Pune-Mumbai
highway.
A team of state officials are also likely to visit Los Angeles
to witness a similar demonstration track developed by the company in the
American city. Officials in the Chief Minister's office told pune-news.com that the land where the
track will be developed is in the government's possession. The company would
soon reveal the development plan but have nevertheless drawn up a detailed
project report for the hyperloop project. The hyperloop is expected to reduce
the travel time between Pune and Mumbai to 25 minutes from the current three
hours.
Although the investment from the Virgin Group has not yet been
revealed, the officer said that the capital cost for one kilometre is expected
to be in the range of Rs 400 crore to Rs 700 crore, an estimate that is
currently required for the elevated and underground metro railway.
Branson had announced earlier that a framework agreement has
been signed between the state government and the company. The hyperloop
transportation system is estimated to carry 150 million passengers every year
and will be operated upto the speed of 1,000 kmph. The same official however
said that initially the hyperloop transportation system will operate at 350
kmph, which will gradually increase to 600 kmph before reaching 1,000 kmph.
Hyperloop is a train service that envisions loading passengers
and cargo into a pod that will accelerate gradually via electric propulsion
through a low-pressure tube. According to Branson who is the Chairman of
Hyperloop One, the company building this system, the pod will quickly lift
above the track using magnetic levitation and glide at airline speeds for long
distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag. In fact, with speeds 2-3 times
faster than high-speed rail, hyperloop can connect far-flung Indian cities as
if they were metro stops.
The technology for Hyperloop One is currently in the early
stages of the commercialisation phase after the successful completion of the
world's first full scale hyperloop systems test at their DevLoop site outside
Las Vegas. "We have always
believed that India would be a tremendous market for hyperloop. The Pune-Mumbai
route is one of the strongest economic cases we have seen to-date," said
Virgin Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd.
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