IIT Madras testing plan for hyperloop parallel to Chennai-Bengaluru route

Hyperloop technology is still in nascent stages, but an initiative by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, and funded by the Railways, may help India take a lead.

A hyperloop — conceptualised by billionaire Elon Musk — uses magnets to levitate pods inside an airless tube, creating conditions in which the pods can shuttle people, and freight, at 1,000 kmph. Plans are being drawn up for a cargo hyperloop parallel to either the Chennai-Bengaluru railway line, highways connecting the cities, or a line between Chennai and Puducherry.

To test the plan, a 400-metre hyperloop comprising 4-5-metre pods and clocking 250 kmph speed will come up at IIT Madras by June-September 2023. TuTr, a technology start-up incubated by IIT Madras, will lead the hyperloop project. TuTr has signed technology tie-ups with Tata Steel and Daimler and will enter a similar deal with an infrastructure company. The Railways has allocated Rs 8.34 crore for the project. 

The project was conceptualised by a student initiative called Avishkar Hyperloop. TuTr was formed to create special purpose vehicles with suitable financial partners to make the projects a reality.

IIT Madras has demonstrated contactless propulsion and braking for the project, and will be ready technology-wise by July 2023. “During the second phase, we may be looking at a 10-km test track area parallel to railways and highways or on smaller cargo corridors, ports and Metro rail corporations. This can be expanded into a commercial corridor, once proven,” said Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, head of National Centre for Combustion Research and Development at IIT Madras, a cofounder of TuTr, and advisor to Avishkar Hyperloop.

IN THE WORKS

• Plans being drawn up for cargo hyperloop parallel to the Chennai-Bengaluru railway line, highways connecting cities, or a line between Chennai and Puducherry
• Rs 8.34 crore allocated by the Railways for the project
• 400-metre hyperloop comprising 4-5-metre pods and clocking 250 kmph speed will come up at IIT Madras by June-September 2023 
• Second phase is likely to be on track by 2025

Among routes under consideration include stretches along the Chennai-Bengaluru railway line or highways, or a small area between Chennai and Puducherry parallel to the East Coast Road. The second phase is likely to be on track by 2025.

“We are one step ahead compared to other hyperloop projects in India and the association with the Indian Railways helped in that. Avishkar Hyperloop came to my mind taking inspiration from Musk,” said Suyash Singh, co-founder and CEO, GalaxEye Space.

Avishkar Hyperloop is a brainchild of Singh and the team — consisting of 76 IIT Madras students — won the European Hyperloop Week in Valencia, Spain, in 2021. Recently, it has also manufactured a Hyperloop Pod Prototype and tested the technology.

According to Chakravarthy, the IIT Madras hyperloop is expected to cost about $8 million per km, giving a cost advantage compared to high-speed rail lines ($27 million per km).

India’s other projects in the feasibility stage are the Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop, a corridor from Bengaluru to the city airport by Virgin Hyperloop, a project between Delhi’s international airport, and Greater Noida’s proposed Jewar airport and Delhi-Mumbai Hyperloop Corridor. “All other projects are still in the planning and conceptual phase,” Singh added.