IIT Madras recently achieved a significant milestone in transportation innovation by completing a 410-meter Hyperloop test track, marking India’s first experiment with Hyperloop technology. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the achievement on Thursday, sharing a video of the track on social media.
The project is led by the Avishkar Hyperloop team of IIT Madras, in collaboration with TuTr, a startup supported by the institute’s incubation ecosystem. The Avishkar Hyperloop team comprises 76 undergraduate and post-graduate students working on developing and testing this cutting-edge technology.
The implementation plan involves two crucial phases. In the initial phase, an 11.5-kilometer test track will be built to demonstrate the system’s functionality and reliability. After successful validation, the second phase will expand the test track to approximately 100 kilometers, paving the way for real-world applications and commercial use.
The Mumbai-Pune corridor has been identified as the potential site for India’s first full-scale Hyperloop project. If implemented, this system could reduce the travel time between the two cities to just 25 minutes, making it faster than air travel and revolutionizing inter-city connectivity.
Additionally, Pune-based startup Quintrans Hyperloop is working toward launching India’s first operational Hyperloop cargo system by 2027-28, according to media reports. This cutting-edge technology aims to enable ultra-high-speed inter-city connectivity between major Indian cities such as Mumbai and Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru, and Delhi and Chandigarh.
The Hyperloop system offers several benefits, with travel times between Mumbai and Pune projected to be less than 25 minutes. Ticket prices for a one-way journey are expected to range between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500, which is nearly half the cost of a direct flight, making it both fast and economical for passengers. This initiative is similar to the high-speed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, aiming to transform inter-city travel, and such initiatives will surely ease travel for Indians everywhere.
