Hyperloop – Travel in a Tube
By Gurubaran Magesh
Class 4 Student, Bangalore
Foreword by Venkat
While there has been great advancement in technology and connectivity giving us better reasons to stay home, there is a new hope to make travel quicker (and easier) than ever imagined. The hyperloop – the upcoming travel wonder – works on the principle of levitation and reduced air resistance leading to very high speeds. Young Gurubaran shares this exciting discovery in his own lovely words. He is a curious boy with deep interests in studying geography, urban city planning, country flags and trains. His dream is certainly everyone’s dream as well – to travel to cities in India in minutes. May it come true soon!
Explore the exciting dream of a new paradigm in land travel through Gurubaran’s sweet writing which was inspired by a dream during his sleep!
Gurubaran Magesh is a 4th grader living in Bengaluru. He has strong interests in Geography (mainly political), Maps and Railways and Urban planning.
Hyperloop – Travel in a Tube
In February this year, my cousin Sahana called me from Chennai, saying that she is going to a water park tomorrow to enjoy her holidays. That night I dreamt of getting into a water slide from my home in Bengaluru and getting out the amusement park in front of her. When I woke up, I wished that the dream comes true one day.
One day I was watching on YouTube about my favorite thing in the world. Do you know what it is? Of course, its Railways. I came across a video, where a person was packed in a box and thrown in a long tube. And it was mentioned as the next big thing in transit. “Hooray!! My dream is becoming true”, I shouted. Later I learnt that it was called Hyperloop. Hearing its name, I got hyper, and my mind went into a loop with so many questions. What is it? How does it work?
Hyperloop is a proposed high speed transport system, which can travel at speeds comparable to flights. The term was coined by Mr. Elon Musk, when he was referring to an old concept conceived in 1799 for travelling in Vacuum pipes. Since then, a lot of companies are working on this project.
It has three main components (or ingredients if you are a chef). The Tube, The Pod and The Terminals.
- The Pod is the box where are people are packaged, just like the peas in a Pod. BTW, Pods remind me of my paati, small and nice.
- The Tube is low pressurized sealed tube like structure, in which the pods travel.
- The Terminals are the places where people get in and out of the Tube and the Pods.
There are two key differences between a Hyperloop and normal trains.
- First, since most of the air is removed from the tube to reduce friction, the pods can travel at very high speeds.
- Secondly, the pods don’t have wheels like cars or trains, but rather float on air through the tube
The first prototype of Hyperloop was made in Munich, Germany in 2019. A Non-human test run conducted there which achieved the record speed of 463 KMPH. Later in 2020, a human test run was made in Las Vegas, USA at 170 KMPH. Multiple companies are working on newer versions of hyperloop, which are expected to run at 1000-1200 KMPH. In India, Andhra Pradesh Government has signed an MOU to consider building a hyperloop between Vijayawada and Amaravati, which could bring down the travel time from 1 hour to 6 minutes. Another proposal to have a hyperloop between Mumbai and Pune is also being considered.
Hopefully, my dream to travel in a tube will become true one day.
By Gurubaran Magesh
Beautiful dream may come true soon
Good luck!
Thanks Uncle