Delhi to Mumbai in 55 Minutes: Hyperloop One Shows India How

Hyperloop One Tuesday hosted it’s first-ever summit with government officials in New Delhi to discuss India’s most promising Hyperloop routes. The company showcased the possibility of travelling to Mumbai from Delhi in just 55 minutes, faster than any commercial airline.

The Hyperloop One Vision For India summit also showcased five Hyperloop One Global Challenge (HOGC) semi-finalist teams from India, each of which proposed high-speed transportation routes that could improve transportation in the country.

The challenge required the teams to develop regional proposals integrating Hyperloop One's disruptive transport technology to move passengers and freight from point-to-point, swiftly, and on-demand. Also read: MWC 2017 Samsung-Jio Joint Event: Reliance Jio Network is 5G-Ready

The HOGC received more than 2,600 registrants from 90 countries, and narrowed the field down to 35 semi-finalists across all continents with a potential pipeline worth $26 billion. India led the way with the highest number of registrants and had the most vocal supporters of Hyperloop One on social media. The India semi-finalists include: AECOM - Bengaluru-to-Chennai: 334 km in 20 minutes. Meeting the demand of a passenger and freight super-corridor growing at 15% a year. LUX Hyperloop Network - Bengaluru-to-Thiruvananthapuram: 736 km in 41 minutes. Connects two major ports in southern India with population centres of Coimbatore and Kochi. Dinclix GroundWorks - Delhi-to-Mumbai via Jaipur and Indore: 1,317 km in 55 minutes. Freight and passengers. Connects two megacities and creates seaport access for landlocked intermediary cities in the interior. Hyperloop India - Mumbai-to-Chennai via Bengaluru: 1,102 km. 50 minutes. Phased development for freight and passengers. Boosts capacity at ports of Mumbai and Chennai, creates a Suez Canal-like link between India’s coasts. Infi-Alpha - Bengaluru to Chennai: 334 km in 20 minutes. Meeting the demand of a passenger and freight super-corridor growing at 15% a year. Connects with major airports.Also read: Delhi Metro Smart Cards Will be Non-refundable From April 1

Hyperloop One is developing the world’s first operational Hyperloop. The summit, which was attended by Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways and Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, discussed how Hyperloop One can integrate with and augment India’s vast transport network with reliable, clean, and on-demand autonomous transport, connecting India’s major cities at faster-than-airline speeds. Also read: Delhi Government to Use Drones for Aerial Survey of Wazirabad-DND Corridor

The Hyperloop concept has generated excitement and interest from start-ups around the world since it was first proposed in 2013. While other start-ups have not yet moved beyond basic research, Hyperloop One is the only company that is building a functional Hyperloop system. Following the successful public demonstration of the propulsion motor in May 2016 Hyperloop One claims to be on track to run the world’s first full-system test in 2017 in Nevada. (Follow MWC 2017 Full Coverage Here)