Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop Technology

Context

The Ministry of Railways has announced that it’s going to collaborate with IIT Madras for the development of a made-in-India Hyperloop system.

For this project, IIT Madras will receive Rs 8.34 crore in funding from the Indian Railways.
- Along with the financial support, the Indian Railways will also help in the manufacturing, and formulation of safety standards.
- Also, access to electrical testing facilities of the railways will be provided.
IIT Madras will be responsible to deliver design documentation for pod, tube, and track for the hyperloop system.
The testing and performance data delivery for the pod prototype and the vacuum tube will also be done by the IIT Madras.
The institute will also provide training to the railway personnel regarding the working of the hyperloop system.

Hyperloop is a new type of transport technology that uses magnetic levitation in low-pressure tubes or tunnels to transport people and goods.
There are two major differences between hyperloop and a standard rail.
- One is passengers sit in pods that travel via tubes or tunnels in which most of the air is removed to reduce friction.
- The second difference is that instead of using wheels, the pods will float on air skis or use magnetic levitation.
Imagine, an aircraft like speed on land, travelling through low-pressure tunnels from one terminal to another. The pods would move via mag-lev technology that would enable the frictionless ride.

In 2020, the US-based company “Virgin Hyperloop” tested the Hyperloop system with passengers for the first time.

Extremely quick
Eco-friendly as it consumes less power than an electric train and doesn’t really have any emissions unlike an aircraft or a diesel locomotive.
Hyperloop is faster and less expensive to construct than regular high-speed rail.
The energy requirement is also less.

IIT Madras’s Avishkar Hyperloop which was formed in 2017 had been working on scalability and frugal engineering concepts for the development of a Hyperloop based transportation system for India.
The group was one of the top ten finalists at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod competition of 2019 and was the only Asian team to do so.
They also were awarded the ‘Most Scalable Design Award’ at the European Hyperloop Week in