Hyperloop One could take some help from Skill India and Make in India programs, says CEO Rob Lloyd

Hyperloop was announced years back by Elon Musk as a concept that could be the future of transportation. One of the leading firms to work on the concept called Hyperloop One, hosted a special ‘Vision for India’ event in New Delhi on 28 February, confirming the possibility of Hyperloop transportation in the country.

It is a super fast transportation concept in which passengers or cargo propel in a pod-like vehicle through a low-pressure tube using electric propulsion with speeds matching airliners. The company claims that speeds ranging from 700-1,100 kmph can be achieved. This means that travelling from Delhi to Mumbai could be done in just 80 minutes, or Pune to Mumbai in just 8 minutes.

Support from Indian government

Hyperloop One was founded in 2014 and today its has 225 employees. announced a global challenge last year where it invited teams to pitch in their ideas to deploy Hyperloop in their region of interest. Out of the 2,300 applicants, 35 teams were finalised out of which 5 Indian teams were present at today’s event in New Delhi. The final teams will get support from Hyperloop One to actually make their vision a reality.

The company has also got support from the Indian government as the minister of railways, Suresh Prabhu and CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant were present at the event and said that they are excited by the concept. “We are committed to Hyperloop and open to help out in any way possible,” said Amitabh Kant at the event.

In a one on one interaction, the CEO Rob Lloyd told us that in a short time of just 2 years, the company has grown to over 200 employees and how this is a small step towards a bigger opportunity.

“The response that we got from India has been excellent and we are very excited to work with more people to make Hyperloop a reality. The concept of Skill India and Make in India will be highly considered and we would like to provide opportunities in the future.”

He also said that there is a proposal where Hyperloop One will establish factories and R&D centres in the country for efficient deployment.

The financial and environmental costs

Hyperloop is considered to be quite efficient, apart from being super fast, it will take up less space and will be financially sound as it will run completely on electricity. Of course the cost required to construct and operate will mostly depend on the route and application. Research claims that it would be 60 percent that of high-speed rail and would be less expensive to operate. It will also be on-demand which means that unlike trains that follow a schedule, a Hyperloop pod could be deployed whenever the passengers require with departures as quick as every 20 seconds. Just like the metro has various stations in a city, a Hyperloop network will have cities and towns as one station.

It would consumer less energy as there is no need of constructing tracks, and it uses minimal electrical energy to power the system. Upon asking about a possibility of utilisation of solar energy, the CEO said that it is definitely under consideration.

Positive impact on the job market

So how will this help? Apart from reducing travel times to as much as 10 times, Hyperloop would help in creating and improving job opportunities. Frequent business travellers could save time and improve productivity. Transport of goods that take 14 days could be reduced to just 14 hours. Hyperloop One is also considering to make the pods in India and sees a scope of software development once the project is underway.

All said and done, Hyperloop is still a few years away. There are still numerous challenges ahead, and this event was just the first step for Hyperloop One. There isn’t even a fully tested prototype of a Hyperloop system yet, but the company hopes to do its first in Nevada.

“We hope to see you there,” said Rob Lloyd CEO of Hyperloop One.