Hyperloop Tech Begins Feasibility Study for Indonesian Routes

One of the world’s futuristic vacuum tubebased transportation system developers Hyperloop Transportation Technologies ( HTT) has started its US$2.5 million feasibility study for possible routes it can build in Indonesia.

HTT Chief Operations Officer Bibop Gresta told Tech in Asia that the company closed a joint venture agreement at Indonesia’s ministry of transportation last week called Hyperloop Transtek Indonesia with Indonesian partners, entrepreneurs Ron Mullers and Dwi Putranto Sulaksono.

The transport technology company is mapping out plans on the Hyperloop development system that would run three routes in the archipelago: one to connect Jakarta with satellite town Tangerang, one to connect airports across Java and another in North Sumatra.

The Hyperloop is basically an elongated tube, which contains capsules that would carry passengers and goods, depressurized to a near vacuum point. Because of magnetic levitation, the passenger-carrying capsules would float, and the almost frictionless propulsion technology makes it an energy efficient transportation alternative. Gresta explained that with the Hyperloop producing more energy that it needs, it would be possible to “monetize the transportation system through means other than passenger fares, such as selling off its excess electricity.”

HTT and Hyperloop One, which are both based in the US, are the main contenders in the race to be the first to build a commercial Hyperloop track. Both names are practically competing for the same pool of investors, contracts and partners across the world.

The Hyperloop design was first put forward in 2013 by SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, but to date, no significant tube-based transportation systems have been seriously attempted anywhere in the world. This leads many stakeholders to take the supposed initiative and feasibility study with a grain of salt.