Mumbai-Nagpur journey to last 35 mins

Gadkari invites Tesla officials to conduct trial runs for Hyperloop, a supersonic mode of transport.

If things go according to plan, travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur will be reduced to 35 minutes thanks to the Hyperloop, a super fast mode of transport designed by US-based firm Tesla, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. Mr Gadkari said he has invited Tesla to conduct a trial run of Hyperloop on the existing 94-km-long Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

The technology is based on tubes within which bus-sized capsules travel at near supersonic speed — 1,100-kmph — due to low air pressure.

Mr Gadkari was speaking on the sidelines of an infrastructure summit in the city where he said that such a high-speed transport system could be beneficial for the country. The Tesla officials gave me a presentation on the Hyperloop and I have offered them land for starting a manufacturing unit in Maharashtra. The government’s topmost priority is waterways, followed by railways and roads.”

Mr Gadkari spoke about various infrastructure projects, including the proposed Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway and the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Expressway. He said, Maharashtra is the growth engine of the country and expressways will change the face of the country. I announce that work for the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway will begin from January 2017.”

Mr Gadkari, who is the Union transport minister, also took responsibility for the August 2 Mahad bridge collapse, which saw several deaths. “The Mumbai-Goa Highway is dangerous because currently it is only a two-lane highway and we promised to convert it into a four-lane highway by 2018. The expansion of lanes was a problem mainly because of land acquisition problems.”

Around 26 people were killed when part of the over a century-old bridge collapsed on Savitri river.

Mr Gadkari, when asked by a panellist when ‘Acche Din’ would come, replied, “Acche Din has become a bone in our throat and people always demand for more... The words ‘Acche Din’ were first used by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and later used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it got linked to the NDA government.”

Meanwhile, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who also attended the summit, said, “I have asked Tesla, which is offering to set up Hyperloop as a transport system, to make the pilot project successful in the US first, and later have trial runs for the same on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.”