Hyperloop One: Here is how the company is planning to deploy the next generation of transport in India

A few years back, travelling through vacuum tubes faster than an airplane seemed like a dream. It is 2017 and we are already at the first stage of making this dream real.

Termed as the ‘fifth mode of transportation,’ Hyperloop will change the way humans travel. Elon Musk put the idea of the hyperloop about five years ago. He had a clear vision of how humans can deploy simple technology and cover vast distances in a matter of minutes. But at that moment, it was an idea, a plan to propel ‘pods’ through a network of vacuum tubes.

The idea gave birth to two companies, Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. Both the companies are said to be partnering with various region and country-specific firms to join hands and deploy the next generation of transportation. Both the companies have targeted India, among others, as a potential platform to launch the new mode of transport.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is directly approaching state governments to build a hyperloop travel network by raising $100 million. Hyperloop One, on the other hand, officially entered India by hosting an event called ‘Vision for India’ in the capital city on 28 February.

Hyperloop One has a different approach when it comes to deploying the concept. It has sourced ideas and feasibility plans from various teams across the globe, including India, and it makes sense too. The Hyperloop One Global Challenge saw over 2,000 entries, which now has five teams representing India in the semi-finals.

The five teams that have proposed their ideas and plans to Hyperloop One include:

AECOM – Bengaluru-to-Chennai: 334 km in 20 minutes. Meeting the demand of a passenger and freight super-corridor growing at 15 percent a year.

LUX Hyperloop Network – Bengaluru-to-Thiruvananthapuram: 736 km in 41 minutes. Connects two major ports in southern India with population centres of Coimbatore and Kochi.

Dinclix GroundWorks – Delhi-to-Mumbai via Jaipur and Indore: 1,317 km in 55 minutes. Freight and passengers. Connects two mega cities and creates seaport access for landlocked intermediary cities in the interior.

Hyperloop India – Mumbai-to-Chennai via Bengaluru: 1,102 km. 50 minutes. Phased development for freight and passengers. Boosts capacity at ports of Mumbai and Chennai, creates a Suez Canal-like link between India’s coasts.

Infi-Alpha – Bengaluru to Chennai: 334 km in 20 minutes. Meeting the demand of a passenger and freight super-corridor growing at 15 percent a year. Connects with major airports.

We got a chance to speak to these teams at the event, which included students from a number of universities, some as young as first year college students.

Sibesh Kar, Founder and team leader at Hyperloop India said, “The transportation framework of India was formed during the colonial era when the British were here. It is today one of the biggest networks and needs a leap-frog [sic>. Hyperloop promises to bring that change.” He also mentioned that their team is working on preparing a pod which will be tested on Elon Musk’s Space X one mile hyperloop ’track’ in California.

How does it work?

Speaking to Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd, we went through how the system will actually work. “Hyperloop is the future of transport. Instead of tracks, we will have a large network of tubes which will take less space than traditional railway tracks. These tubes will be suspended on pillars or tunnelled underground, leaving a major chunk of land free for other purposes.

Passengers or cargo would be will be loaded in to pods, which will act as the vehicle that will travel through these tubes using electric propulsion and low pressure. The pods would levitate just like a maglev train and would smoothly glide, reaching speeds faster than an airplane. The best part is, it will be autonomous.”

The whole operation would require electricity to run and according to the CEO, measures to utilise the least amount of energy are being discussed. “We want to provide the best solution possible and we want it to be efficient in every way possible.”

When asked about the possibility of harnessing solar energy, he gave a positive response, “While it is too early to say, there is a good possibility. We would have to figure out how to contain all of the solar energy so it can be used by the system.”

Considering India has the largest network of railways, we were quite interested to know how hyperloop would differentiate itself from high-speed trains. According to the company there are 4 key differences; it is faster, on-demand, environmentally friendly and less expensive.

Is it safe?

Propelling cargo, or people for that matter, at speeds reaching 1,000 kmph brings a matter of safety. Hyperloop One is said to have put safety at the forefront. “Our research puts safety right on top. We want to provide a secure system and for that we are doing everything that is in our hands,” said Lloyd. The company has partnered with SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français) or the French National Railway Corporation which is France’s national state-owned railway company and manages the rail traffic in France. “The SNCF has got the best safety record and we are relying on them for safety expertise.”

Considering the high-speeds of the pods itself, Lloyd explained that when you travel at high speeds, you experience G-forces. When you are travelling in a car, its about 0.2 to 1 of maximum g-force. However, when you are in an airplane, you set off with 0.3-0.5G but when you land and hit the runway, it shoots up to 2.5G. The hyperloop will have a gradual increase in speeds, just like an airplane on the runway. It will eventually gain high-speeds which not exert pressure on the people travelling in the pods and will slow down when it reaches close to its destination.

There are many other factors considering the safety of the hyperloop project, to which the company believes that it is on the right track and is tackling all the issues one by one. It is working on making a holistic safety approach for all the regions but is also considering changes as it enters the construction phase of the hyperloop.