Hyperloop One Might Setup Its First Route In India; Meaning Mumbai To Pune In 25 Mins Flat

Virgin Hyperloop One has a dozen planned projects in its pipeline at the moment. And since its a US-based transportation company, most of these projects are based in various parts of the country. However, one such project had also been proposed to cover the Mumbai to Pune stretch in India last year and recent reports reveal that this might just be the very first project that the company brings to life.

To recall, hyperloop is a futuristic mass transit system that will make use of pods in a long stretch of vacuum tube to transport people and goods alike. Since the pods will be travelling in a vacuum, anticipated speeds of the same could reach up to 350-400 kmph. Initiated by tech billionaire Elon Musk, the entire concept is meant to reduce the travel time over long distances drastically.

Hyperloop One is a major player in the field, having already procured several contracts for the setting up the transportation system, even the one in India. Now, as per a recent interaction with one of company¡¯s head engineers, a report indicates that the company might be gunning to make its project in India a reality on a priority basis.

Virgin Hyperloop One

Out of five projects in US and six internationally, the company has valid reasons to prioritise the one in India. The planned route from Mumbai to Pune has a considerable support from the local entities including the private players as the need for the system is also compelling, to eliminate the on-road congestion between the two cities. The route will progressively be extended to Chennai. Also, the environmental impact study has been completed for the route, unlike any other listed routes across the world.

All this helps the company. As mentioned by Kristen Hammer, Hyperloop One's manager of materials engineering, the company is small as of now and needs all the help available from the local entities. With this, she went on to say that the Mumbai to Pune route in India is expected to be operational by mid 2020s.

Virgin Hyperloop One

Once the first route is set up, the company would have a set pathway for all the next ones, cutting down on the development time.