India’s Hyperloop Push: Test Tube At IIT Madras Campus To Be Extended, Making It The World’s Longest; ICF Chennai To Develop Electronics

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday (15 March) said that the 410-meter-long Hyperloop test tube, one of the longest such test facility in Asia, at the IIT Madras campus will be extended soon to make it the world's longest.

He also announced that electronics component technology for the ambitious Hyperloop project, developed by IIT-Madras, will be built at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.

After his visit to the Hyperloop testing facility at IIT Madras' Thaiyur campus, Vaishnaw said the 410-meter-long Hyperloop test tube is the longest of its kind in Asia.

"Hyperloop is basically like a tube. There will be a vaccum inside the tube and the pod which will operate inside the tube that will operate in levitation mode, which means there will be magnetic fields which raise the [pod] over and above the tracks. It [pod] doesn't move on the tracks. It basically goes up, then moves," Vaishnaw said.

Vaishnaw said that the technology is currently at the experimental stage but "very good results are visible now".

He also announced that the "entire electronics of this project will be developed at ICF, Chennai".

"This is one of the longest tube in Asia at 410 metre. Another 40 metres will be added, then it will become the longest in the world," the minister added.

The minister said that the entire Hyperloop testing system has been developed using indigenous technologies, with encouraging results from the tests conducted so far.

India is on the brink of introducing Hyperloop transportation, he added, news agency PTI reported.

Tutr Hyperloop, an IIT Madras-incubated deep-tech startup, is gearing up to introduce the world's first commercial Hyperloop project in India, in line with the Centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

Commending the project team, Vaishnaw noted that the Ministry of Railways has provided both financial and technical backing for the Hyperloop initiative.

Vaishnaw highlighted that the experienced ICF experts who developed the large-scale electronics systems for Vande Bharat high-speed trains will now contribute their expertise to the Hyperloop project.

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