Hyperloop test track
Credit: X/@AshwiniVaishnaw
New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that Hyperloop is an emerging technology and is at nascent stage of development.
“The technical and safety parameters of Hyperloop are yet to be framed worldwide,” Vaishnaw said in Lok Sabha while replying to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey regarding research and development of air mobility solutions.
“Hyperloop is expected to be faster, more energy efficient and sustainable than other transportation modes. As an initiative, Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), a unit under Ministry of Railways, has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Madras with a funding of Rs 20.89 crore for setting up a Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop technology,” Vaishnaw said.
He added that the Centre's objective is to develop a sub-scale model of Pod, Test Track and Vacuum Tube facility of the futuristic full scale Hyperloop at IIT Madras for validation of this technology.
IIT Madras with support from the Ministry of Railways, has developed a 422-meter-long, India's first Hyperloop test track.
The Hyperloop system envisions transporting passengers in pods through low-pressure tubes at speeds exceeding 1,000 km/h. This technology could enable travel at speeds that cover 350 km in just 30 minutes.
The Hyperloop is a high-speed travel system designed for long distances. It uses special capsules that move through vacuum tubes, enabling trains to reach exceptional speeds.
It involves an electromagnetically levitating pod within a vacuum tube thus eliminating friction and air drag and potentially allowing the pod to reach speeds up to Mach 1.0. A Mach is around 761 miles per hour at sea level on a standard day.
"Hyperloop can move at twice the speed of a plane, with low power consumption and energy storage for 24-hour operations," said an official in the railways.