Recently, IIT Madras along with the Ministry of Railways developed India’s first hyperloop test track, measuring 422 meters. In this technology, the train will travel in a tube-like structure, founded by the Ministry of Railways and built at the IIT Madras campus, at the speed of more than 1,000 km/h. This means passengers can travel from Delhi to Jaipur (about 300 km) in less than half an hour.
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What Ashwini Vaishnaw Said on India’s First Hyperloop Test Track-
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted on ‘X’ ‘Government-academia collaboration is driving innovation in futuristic transportataion’.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of Asia’s first Global Hyperloop Competition at IIT Madras, he reaffirmed that IIT Madras will receive a third grant of $1 million (approximately ₹9 crore) to advance its hyperloop project further, following two previous grants of the same amount. The government’s commitment to developing this cutting-edge transportation technology. Once the pre-commercial phase proves successful, India’s first commercial hyperloop project will be launched within the Indian Railways framework. Authorities will designate a 40-50 km corridor for efficient high-speed transportation, marking a major milestone in revolutionising travel in the country.
Approx. 200 students participated in the competition. The competition was conducted by IIT Madras, IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation and SAE India, with additional support from the Ministry of Railways.
History and Global Hyperloop Efforts-
The idea of the hyperloop was initially proposed by Swiss professor Marcel Juffer in the 1970s. The concept became more famous in 2013 when entrepreneur Elon Musk described the hyperloop as a transportation system where there is an electromagnetically levitating pod travels within a vacuum tube which eliminates friction as well as air drag.
Today, Multiple countries are trying to implement this technology in the country including the USA, India, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Italy, etc.
While many countries are vying to be the first to launch a commercial hyperloop system, no fully operational commercial hyperloop transport system exists anywhere in the world as of February 2025.