Bharat SainiLast Updated on February 25, 2017 by Bharat Saini
Hyperloop, a tube-based transportation system for inter and intra-city transport is an entirely new mode of transport that will revolutionise travel by connecting people and goods safely and efficiently. In travelling in a vacuum tube as fast as the speed of sound, there is a drastic reduction of air in the tube and motion is achieved with nearly zero friction allowing passengers to safely accelerate to airplane speeds. Hyperloop is all powered by a combination of alternative energy and energy conservation systems that produce as much or more energy than it uses. The Hyperloop Transportation System is protected from the elements, utilizes state-of-the-art technology and is designed with safety as a primary goal. Hyperloop enables construction and operation costs that are significantly lower than any other mass transport system. It can be built over land already in use for public transportation, such as in the medians of freeways minimizing footprint. These reduced costs translate directly into cheaper ticket prices, connecting people and communities, and providing new economic growth and opportunity.
The concept of Hyperloop was popularized by Elon Musk. Musk visualised a Hyperloop build-off! Crowd funded test track that could speed the arrival of ambitious vacuum ‘train’. When Elon Musk first revealed his plans to shoot capsules of passengers through a tube at around the speed of sound, they were dismissed as a pipe dream. The project was to develop a high speed intercity transporter using a low pressure tube train which would reach a top speed of 800 miles per hour (1,300 km/h) with a yearly capacity of 15 million passengers. Musk has plans to build one himself near SpaceX in Los Angeles.
Recently, a US-based crowd funded start-up called Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) has proposed to the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Hyperloop as a future mode of transportation, where a pod-like vehicle is propelled through a near-vacuum tube connecting cities at high speeds matching that of the aircraft, in the country to connect various major Indian cities and had also sought land for a pilot project. According to HTT it costs $40 million, or about Rs. 270 crore per kilometer to build Hyperloop while building high-speed train line would cost almost twice as much. Connecting Delhi to Manesar/Gurugram may be the first of various routes under the project. Hyperloop system is being designed to be used to transport passengers and freight. Indian Railways is also considering Hyperloop for Greenfield Freight Corridor. The proposal has been referred to Niti Aayog to examine the feasibility of the project and have a viability check.
Bibop Gresta, chairman and co-founder of HTT, he has proposed to set up the hyperloop system in India as according to him the country has amazing potentialities right now because it has the right density, the lack of infrastructure and the political willingness to change. This combination of factors could be disruptive in a country that would be leading the world in the next few decades. India has everything in terms of the resources and minds. It is a responsibility to embrace innovation because it is the only way to actually fix the problem.
Gresta further informed that Hyperloop system can save lives of those people who die as a result of road crashes, as 80 percent of the fatalities are caused by human error. Hyperloop is completely managed by computers and supervised by humans. This system implements what is called, ‘swarm intelligence’ like the ants or the bees. The ants are capable of forming a line and with antennas and pheromones; they are able to communicate almost at the speed of sound. Similar system is used in Hyperloop. The first capsule analyses the tube and communicates to the next one. It is not only capable of controlling the systems through sensors and the mother-ship but in the case of lost communications, the capsules are intelligent enough to react, slow down and stop. It is always possible to stop the capsule and evacuate the people safely.
