New Delhi: The Railways has joined hands with IIT Madras to indigenously develop Hyperloop technology-based transportation system which runs faster than bullet trains and has considerably low operating cost, according to an official release. The Railways will extend financial support of Rs. 8.34 cr to IIT Madras for the project.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who visited the IIT Madras campus on Friday, lauded the efforts of “Avishkar Hyperloop”, a passionate student-led team at IIT Madras, committed to changing the future of mobility in India by developing scalable Hyperloop technologies.
According to officials, Hyperloop is a new innovative mode of transport that disrupts the paradigm of conventional transport where speed and comfort are carbon-heavy. It is a transportation solution for a sustainable, fast, and connected future with a minimal carbon footprint. The concept is based on levitating pods traveling at near sonic speeds in vacuum tubes built between cities and working like a maglev in vacuum tubes.
Vaishnaw also inspected the production of the indigenous Vande Bharat trains at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, and flagged off the 12000th LHB coach. LHB coaches are anti-telescopic, safer, lighter, more comfortable, and jerk free. Replacement of ICF conventional coaches phase-wise with LHB coaches is being done from a safety point of view, said officials.
The Railways launched India's first indigenous semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express on February 15, 2019, on the New Delhi Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route which has LHB coaches.
Vaishnaw also visited the Egmore Railway Station in Chennai during the night hours of May 19 where he inspected the facilities at the station and reviewed the master plan of the Chennai Egmore Station redevelopment project.
He further elaborated on Chennai Egmore redevelopment, “Chennai Egmore will be redeveloped duly maintaining the heritage and simultaneously revamping its amenities at par with world-class standards." On redevelopment, the station with become the hub of economic activity
Post Station redevelopment, Chennai Egmore, the second-largest terminal of Southern Railway, will house world-class amenities and airport-like features such as separate arrival and departure corridors, bright illumination, and hassle-free access to platforms by escalators, lifts, and skywalks, said the minister.
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