Hyperloop will not be just the fastest mode of mass transportation but also the safest and the cost of buildin... Read More

HYDERABAD: Move over Metro. Hyderabadis may get to live their sci-fi dreams, travelling within minutes in the city and to other cities in the not so distant future, if this US startup has its way.

Set up in 2013, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) has been working on Elon Musk 's concept of a tube-based transportation system that can transport people faster than the speed of the sound (which is 1234.8 km per hour).

HTT chairman and cofounder Bibop Gresta, who is in the city to meet Telangana government officials, said Hyperloop will not be just the fastest mode of mass transportation but also the safest. “Hyperloop has the benefits of an airplane but without any of its risks,“ Gresta said. “Hyperloops are built on pylons or underground.

In case of any emergency, the tube, where there is a problem, can be sealed, air can be re-injected and people can be evacuated,“ Gresta explained adding that the emergency response time is just around 6.4 seconds, making it one of the safest proposed transport systems.

Talking about the cost part, Gresta said that, on an average, it would cost around $20-40 million for building hyperloop transportation per km but it would vary from place to place and could be brought down depending on the access to new technologies and resources in a particular region.

He added that at this point of time it would be difficult to talk about passenger fares as a lot would also depend on governments. However, to give a sense of the fares being considered abroad, he said the company was mulling an average ticket price of $30 per passenger between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“It is not just the speed but efficiency that is the coolest thing about Hyperloop. By using a combination of renewable energy, it can generate more electricity than it consumes, allowing it to sell the electricity helping keep the costs per passenger very minimal,“ he added.

Gresta said India can just skip high speed trains and leapfrog to Hyperloop because in high speed rails, tracks have to be electrified and the cost of building as well as maintaining them is huge. Whereas in the case of Hyperloop, a capsule is able to levitate without using any electricity through passive levitation, which is the technology HTT acquired from the Lawrence Livermore Na tional Laboratory.

Meanwhile, the company is planning to set up its office in India but is yet to zero in on a location. It also plans to come up with an R&D centre. It plans to invest around $120 million initially in India to set up its base here, he said. It is also planning to an nounce partnerships with a host of local companies in the area of design and manufacturing, among others.

To start with, the company is planning to conduct feasibility of routes in Maharashtra such as Mumbai-Pune. Gresta, in the past few months, has already met the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh , Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Odisha and is planning to meet the Goa CM in the coming days.

The company will also be reaching out to railway minister Suresh Prabhu to request him to put in place a framework of regulations for this emerging mode of transportation.

