Richard Branson proposes Hyperloop between New Delhi and Mumbai

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): Billionaire entrepreneur and owner of Virgin Hyperloop Richard Branson on Monday met Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSME Nitin Gadkari with a proposal to establish a Hyperloop transportation system between New Delhi and Mumbai. The proposal came just one month after the Maharashtra government decided to scrap the proposed Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop project in the state.

In their two-days meeting with Gadkari, Virgin Group proposes to develop a 1,300-km long Hyperloop transportation system project between New Delhi and Mumbai to connect India's national capital with the financial capital. They also held a meeting with various stakeholders for the new technology. Senior executives from the Virgin Group have met the Union Transport Minister to discuss this. The talks are at a very preliminary stage and they may submit a formal proposal to Gadkari, said a person who was part of the meeting, reported by ET.

Speaking at a public event in New Delhi on Thursday, the Union Transport Minister also mentioned that he had met some investors earlier in the day and discussed a bullet train-like project. Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra Government had the first time signed an agreement worth US$ 10 billion with the Virgin Hyperloop One for the development of a Hyperloop transportation project between Pune and Mumbai last year.

After the change of government, Uddhav Thackeray, new Chief Minister of Maharashtra has decided against implementing it amid doubts about its capsule technology, which is not yet operational anywhere in the world. “We do not have the capacity to experiment with hyperloop. We will concentrate on other modes of transport and, in the meantime, if that technology develops more with successful trials abroad, we can think about it,” Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar had said last month. Commenting on the development, Virgin Hyperloop One spokesperson said:

Virgin Hyperloop One (VHO) is committed to India and the State of Maharashtra. We are actively engaging with the Maharashtra Government as per the standard due process for the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project. When we came to India we had the vision to connect all Tier One cities in under 2 hours. Delhi-Mumbai is a part of that national vision, but our focus remains on moving forward with the Mumbai-Pune project to the satisfaction of all concerned stakeholders.

Experts say that it may be visibly impossible to develop a 1,300 km-long line at this point when not even 1 km is operational anywhere in the world.