US-based start-up Hyperloop Transportation System (HTT), hoping to make high-speed travel a reality, has selected India among the list of potential markets where it wants to deploy high-speed travel pods. The idea, which was originally outlined by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk in 2013, evangelises a high speed system transit which combines a magnetic levitation train and low pressure transit tubes.
Moreover, Hyperloop pods would utilise air bearings instead of pods to attain frictionless motion. It is somewhat similar to the Maglev train, which uses electromagnetic levitation to curb friction, to seamlessly attain speeds above 500 Km per hour. However, the additional use of vacuum tubes through which the pods would travel, enhances travel speed as compared to maglev trains that use normal tracks. It evolves some of the original ideas of VHST, but still uses tunnels and pods or capsules to move from place to place. Musk has likened it to a vacuum tube system in a building used to move documents from place to place. Earlier Musk pointed out, the Hyperlook would essentially be a futuristic train which is a -"cross between a concorde, a railgun, and an air hockey table.-"
The Hyperloop pod would be able to transgress large distances at high-speeds of over 1,200 Km per hour.
Though the project has only been tested on a small-scale basis in May, another final test would be conducted later by 2019. Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and chairman of Hyperloop Technologies, suggested that the high-speed travel pods would be operational by 2020 in some parts of the world.
