Can Hyperloop chart India’s transit course for the future?
IIT-M faculty member Chakravarthy is optimistic as the Hyperloop project gains momentum
Despite mounting skepticism surrounding the feasibility of Hyperloop technology, one voice refuses to yield. Far from conceding to naysayers, Satyanarayan Chakravarthy, a faculty member in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Madras), remains a staunch advocate, declaring that the reports about the death of this technology are highly exaggerated.
Highlighting a pivotal moment on the horizon, Chakravarthy said: “We have got to a point where we can probably demonstrate a full Hyperloop stack, including a vacuum tube at about 400meter in our new campus.” He was referring to the upcoming demonstration by Avishkar Hyperloop at the ‘Global Hyperloop Competition’, which IIT-Madras will host in January 2025.
Conceived by tech maverick Elon Musk in 2013, Hyperloop proposes a low-pressure tube system where magnetically-levitated pod-like vehicles can transport cargo and passengers, potentially reaching speeds of 1,000 kmph.
While Musk’s firms did not commercialize the technology, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc. and Hyperloop One, pursued its development.
Hyperloop Italia, a licensee of HyperloopTT, is currently exploring the feasibility of a hyperloop operating prototype, Hyper Transfer, to carry cargo and passengers. This initiative, conducted in collaboration with Italian companies WeBuild and Leonardo, aims to establish the world’s first commercial hyperloop system in Italy.
Hypeloop One was not as lucky. The startup faced a major setback when Virgin
QUEST FOR CUTTING-EDGE TRANSIT HYPERLOOP
founder Richard Branson withdrew support two years ago. Following Branson’s departure, Hyperloop One ceased operations in December 2023.
Subsequently, Branson’s decision to pull out of the proposed hyperloop corridors in India, spanning routes along Pune-Mumbai,Bengalurucity-Kempegowda
involves a low-pressure tube system with magneticallylevitated vehicles
THE
pod-like vehicle can transport cargo and passengers, reaching speeds of up to 1,000 kmph.
THE
airport, and Amritsar-Chandigarh, in collaboration with Dubai-based logistics firm DP World, added to the disillusionment.
However, Chakravarthy, the faculty advisor to IIT Madras’s student team at Avishkar Hyperloop, is optimistic about the promising outcome of the efforts of the 70-odd students working diligently to develop “the full Hyperloop stack of contactless propulsion, and braking system with linear induction motor and levitation and vacuum tube, since 2017”.
The railways ministry has a key partner in this initiative to develop Hyperloop technology at IIT Madras. Other institutions, including Hyperloop IITB, official hyperloop team from IIT Bombay; student hyperloop from IIT Delhi; and Team Vegapod Hyperloop, a student-led research team from MIT World Peace University, have been participating in global hyperloop competitions and are pitching in with their pilots.
IIT-Madras-incubated TuTr Hyperloop, on its part, is working on “commercializing these developments--it can earn revenue from cargo (by providing services to ports, mining industry, and
technology was conceived by tech maverick Elon Musk in 2013, but he did not commercialise it logistics service providers) and eventually passengers”, said Chakaravarthy, who is also an advisor to the startup.
He said TuTr Hyperloop is making steady progress, and has partnered IITMadras to develop Intellectual Property (IP) in hyperloop technology. In December 2022, the startup signed an agreement with Tata Steel to jointly work on developing and deploying a Hyperloop technology, by leveraging Tata Steel’s expertise in design and development of steel and composite materials.
In January, ArcelorMittal provided 400 tonnes of steel to Avishkar Hyperloop and TuTr Hyperloop for the fabrication of a 400-metre vacuum tube, as well as engineering, design and project management expertise to support the initiative for developing India’s and Asia’s first Hyperloop test track at IIT Madras’ 163-acre Discovery Campus at Thaiyur, near Chennai. The autonomous, levitating pods will be tested at speeds of up to 200 kmph in the tube.
In March, Swiss transportation technology firm Swisspod signed a deal with TuTr to design and fund a testing centre in India, serving as a hub for refining hyperloop technology in real-world conditions. TuTr also has a partnership with Europea’s Hardt Hyperloop for an interoperable hyperloop technology.
Founded by Pranay Luniya and Kartik Kulkarni in 2021, Quintrans Hyperloop is also working on pilots, and planning to develop technologies in India to make it cost-effective”. “We are working on a pilot to levitate one tonne payload on a 15-meter setup in Pune. If we can do it, we will be the first private firm in India to levitate a payload,” Lunia said.