Delhi to Jaipur in 30 minutes: India's first hyperloop test track unveiled at IIT Madras

Delhi to Jaipur in 30 minutes: India's first hyperloop test track unveiled at IIT Madras

Delhi to Jaipur in 30 minutes: India's first hyperloop test track unveiled at IIT Madras ByAbhyjith K. Ashokan Feb 25, 2025 01:10 PM IST Share Via Copy Link Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the first commercial project when the technology has been tested will be on a site as long as 4,050 kilometers.

IIT Madras, with support from the Ministry of Railways, has now developed India's first hyperloop test track which is 422 meters long and allows a high-speed train to travel in a near-vacuum tube at speeds of more than 1,000 km/h.

The IIT Madras Hyperloop track showed that about 350 km can be covered in just 30 minutes.(@AshwiniVaishnaw/X)

“Government-academia collaboration is driving innovation in futuristic transportation,” Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw wrote in a post on X.

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The hyperloop track showed that about 350 km can be covered in just 30 minutes. This means that if it is implemented in the real world, passengers can travel from Delhi to Jaipur, which is roughly 300 km, in less than half an hour.

“The first pod of 422 meters will go a long way in developing technologies,” Vaishnaw said. “I think the time has come when, after the first two grants of a million dollars each, the third grant of one million dollars will be given to IIT Madras for further developing the hyperloop project.”

He also added that the Indian Railways will start the first commercial project when the technology has been thoroughly tested and ready.

“We'll decide a site which can be used for good commercial transportation of let's say some 4,050 kilometers,” he said.

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The project, which involves trains potentially traveling at speeds up to Mach 1 via special capsules in vacuum tubes, was funded by the Ministry of Railways and built at the IIT Madras Campus.

For reference, Mach 1 is around 761 miles per hour or 1,224.71 kilometres per hour.

The reason why the trains can reach such high speeds is because they will part of an electromagnetically levitating pod within a vacuum tube which eliminates friction from traditional rails as well air drag.