Chairman and Co-Founder of the U.S.-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc Bibop Gresta says India’s first Hyperloop project has b een proposed between Vijayawada and Amaravati to ensure eco-friendly and sustainable travel in a capsule in four to six minutes.
He told The Hindu on the sidelines of the CII Partnership Summit which began here on Saturday that the feasibility study was at an advanced stage of completion. Once they finalised the blueprint, it would become a reality in four to five years. He said they would recover the investment in eight to 10 years unlike the metro rail which involved a lot of capital cost.
Hyperloop, the fifth mode of public transport developed first in 2013 in California by the firm, has received an investment of $100 million through 47 partners.
Similar projects have been launched in Spain, France, Slovakia and several other countries.
The project runs by using Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things and consists of a capsule to transport passengers and cargo levitating inside a low air pressure tube, with a passive levitation system.
“With this environment, the capsule can move at a very high speed with very little energy, making the system highly efficient.” It would soon become a globally popular mode of transport.
Mr. Gresta said unlike the bullet trains and the metro rail, the transport through the capsule would not involve a huge capital cost. “Our technology is totally different. We have created a system that uses a combination of renewable energy to generate more electricity than it consumes. This ensures affordable cost of construction and maintenance,” he said.
The firm, which sees a big market for it in India, is negotiating with Uttar Pradesh and other States for taking up projects similar to the proposed one in AP, for which it signed the MoU last year.
