AP govt planning to connect two major cities with Hyperloop

AMRAVATI: Having junked the proposed metro project from Vijayawada to Amarawati, the Andhra Pradesh government is planning to introduce Hyperloop — a mode of transportation invented by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk — between the two cities.

The loop will reportedly cover the distance of over 35 km between the two cities, only in five minutes.

The AP Economic Development Board (AP-EDB) and the US- based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Amaravati on Wednesday.

The project will be taken up in the public-private- partnership mode with funding coming primarily from private investors.

Hyperloop envisages a ‘tube modular transport system’ that runs free of friction. It is still in trial stages in different countries.

Following his first interaction with HTT executives during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January, CM N Chandrababu Naidu held another round of talks with them at the Secretariat here recently.

HTT chairman and co-founder Bibop Gresta and EDB CEO J Krishna Kishore signed the MoU.

Under the terms of the MoU, the HTT will conduct a feasibility study to “analyse the surrounding cityscapes to create the best route between the two cities”. “After a six-month study, we will construct and build the first Hyperloop in India,” HTT said.

“The AP-EDB, along with the state government, will assist HTT with all regulatory requirements and develop and implement Hyperloop in Amaravati,” CEO Kishore was quoted as saying in the release.

The APEDB, along with the state government, will assist HTT with all regulatory requirements and develop and implement Hyperloop in Amaravati. J KRISHNA KISHORE, AP economic development board CEO