India Just Might Be Getting a Hyperloop (wired.com)

California may have produced the horrorshow traffic that prompted Elon Musk to pitch the hyperloop, but it's hardly the only place eager to ditch cars for levitating pods hurtling through tubes at speeds approaching the sound barrier. India wants in, too. From a report: Today, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, one of the companies formed to realize Musk's vision of tube travel, announced it has signed a deal with the state of Andhra Pradesh, in southeast India. Working with the state's economic development board, HTT will spend six months studying possible routes for a hyperloop connecting the cities of Vijaywada and Amaravati -- a move that would transform a 27-mile, hour-long drive into a six-minute whoosh. And then, over an undisclosed period of time, the Los Angeles-based company says it will build the thing. The India deal is just the latest for HTT, which also plans to build networks of tubes in South Korea, Slovakia, and Abu Dhabi. But to make all -- or any -- of that happen, the company's 800 engineers (most of whom have day jobs and work on this in their spare time, in exchange for stock options) must first master the practical aspects of the hyperloop. That means building and maintaining a near-vacuum state across miles of tubes, propelling levitating pods through them, getting people or cargo into and out of those pods, and much more.

Comments

A fun ride

[OYAHHH]

But exactly how do you manage to hang on to the roof of a hyperpod at 1,000 MPH?

Solving the wrong problem

[AlanObject]

I haven't been to India for decades and there is a reason for that. The place horrifies me. Even the "nice" parts.

I am all in favor of any effort to make the country sane and habitable but I just don't see making something like the Hyperloop will help any but the top 1%

Go on youtube and look for videos to see what train rides in India are like for commuters. What trains they do have are reasonably serviceable but are way overtaxed. You have swarms of tens of thousands of people crammed onto platforms designed to max out at maybe a thousand all trying to cram themselves onto trains that are over capacity by at least 2x. And a mob waiting outside the station.

The stench of sweaty bodies must be epic. I'm happy to say I haven't experienced it myself.

The Hyperloop even if the most optimistic projection helps this how? By squirting a pod of 30 people (crammed with 100 no doubt) even 10-15 minutes? Don't make me laugh.

Instead they should upgrade and add to their existing rail infrastructure. The local population is obviously willing to use it. I would bet money that 99.9% of them would prefer a 30-minute clean ride on an available comfortable seat with air conditioning as opposed to a 6-minute woosh in an over capacity system that probably would not be available to them anyway at any reasonable cost.

Show me the numbers that say HyperLoop could solve the problem they really have there rather than the Gee-Whiz space technology fantasy some geek has and I will be in favor of it. I haven't seen those numbers and I doubt they exist.

Disclosure: I am an Elon Musk fanboi.

Re:Solving the wrong problem

[jma05]

Who the heck modded the parent up?

> Go on youtube and look for videos to see what train rides in India are like for commuters.

Which states are they from? And what is the state in question?

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are states that send a good chunk of the engineers to US. Most of videos of chaos you see are from middle and North of India. The southern states produce engineers, launch record breaking space missions etc. The state of Andhra Pradesh (the one in the article) has an airport that is more modern and more stylish than any US airport. Trump wasn't kidding.

India is better viewed as an EU of sorts, except by developing country standards, rather than a single country. There are a variety of states, with their own languages, cultures and politics, but with a common monetary system and a higher governance structure. They are all at different stages of development.

Most Americans have no clue about India. They cannot name any states or languages. They see it as an amorphous country, only barely thinking of it when some spectacle that is hardly representative of the country is highlighted in news. Same with China, Iran etc.

For a country the size of India, you can find instances of just about any kind of chaos and just about any kind of hope. When the sample size is massive, don't make a case out of anecdotes and worse, conjectures. Rather ask, what percent of trains travel like the way you describe. Rather few, I would say. Of course, only the spectacles make the news and views. But that isn't a balanced view of the country.

I have traveled in India. I have traveled in buses where I could place just one foot inside and I have traveled in luxury buses that would match US offerings. I have traveled in trains like you imagine and in comfortable air-conditioned coaches with meal services. Hyperloop, if it comes to fruition, would be a luxury offering and would be run well enough. My doubts are different. Plans are prematurely advertised in India. I would not pay too much stock in any early announcement.

The state of Andhra Pradesh recently split and will be needing a new capital in a few years. The government's vision is to build a capital on modern principles, from ground up. Nearly all Indian cities organically grew over centuries making it hard to inject modern infrastructure. This is seen as a unique opportunity. The state has partnered with Japan to build the city out of nothing.

I'd say you don't understand India much at all. Also, you admit you have not been in India in decades. Do you have any idea how much India and China have advanced in the last few decades? You would not recognize the cities much today.