Mumbai (Urban Transport News): The dream of traveling in ultra-high-speed Hyperloop is going to in reality soon. The Maharashtra government is likely to float a work order for India’s first hyperloop project in the first week of September. According to senior officials, the decision was taken by Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, who was the one who had cleared the final hurdles to the 11.4-km-long Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop corridor along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway between Gahunje and Ozarde. A senior official from Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office said,
We now have the nod to issue the work orders for the project. The Chief Secretary has asked us to clear the request for proposal (RFP) by the end of the month and then issue a work order by September first week.
Astin John, a professional designer has submitted a proposal for new hyperloop terminals in Mumbai. The Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop project is intended to celebrate the new age of transportation technology through architecture for the state-approved hyperloop project in Maharastra. The Mumbai Hyperloop terminal acts as a transportation hub that connects other modes of transport in the city to the hyperloop and is inspired by the aerodynamic free flow of air.
The hyperloop system will be built on columns with its specially designed vehicles, which will be accelerated gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube. The Hyperloop vehicles will run above the track using magnetic levitation and glide at airline speeds for long distances owing to an ultra-low aerodynamic drag.
As the project does not involve any acquisition of land, the government does not expect the work to go beyond 2021, once the work order is issued. The Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop corridor will be built along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
The RFP for the project will be floated at the end of this month. The idea is to harness this technology and be its provider to the rest of the region. Much like what Japan has done with the Shinkansen bullet trains.
The Maharashtra cabinet had last month approved the project and appointed the consortium of DP World and Virgin Hyperloop One as its original project proponent. The government also gave the corridor the status of a public infrastructure project to clear the way for its funding. The Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop project will help people reduce their 150-km journey between Mumbai and Pune to just 30 minutes. The project involves a direct foreign investment equivalent to ₹70,000 crore.