Fadnavis visits Hyperloop test site in US

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paid a visit to one of the test sites of Virgin Hyperloop One in Las Vegas, an official said here on Saturday.

Fadnavis' visit to Nevada was a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding signed by the state government with the Richard Branson-led Virgin Group to build the Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop.

He was accompanied by the company CEO Rob Lloyd. He studied the demonstration track and discussed the feasibility of fast-tracking the deploying roadmap for the technology in Maharashtra.

Fadnavis was earlier in Dubai. He will visit Canada after the US.

The framework agreement with the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) envisages reduction in travel time between Mumbai-Pune to just 25 minutes from the current three hours with Hyperloop.

Branson, who attended the Magnetic Maharashtra Summit in February in Mumbai, spoke about the futuristic technology -- a near-supersonic mode of surface travel in a vacuum -- not yet implemented anywhere in the world.

The state government and the company have already completed the pre-feasibility study on this and the PMRDA has identified a 15-km demonstration track which may be constructed next year.

After the tests succeed, the fully electric Hyperloop will be constructed within four years, or by 2024, at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore.

The Hyperloop between Mumbai-Pune will ease congestion on the existing expressway, reduce greenhouse effects and accidents.

Besides Maharashtra, the Virgin Group will also examine other potential routes or sectors in the country, their economic impact and technical viability of deploying the sophisticated Hyperloop transportation technology in India.

--IANS

qn/soni/bg