What is Hyperloop Technology? How it will affect our Travel Times?

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Hyperloop technology is a giant leap for mankind. It is one of the fastest ways one can travel from one place to another. The hyperloop is a transportation system where the passengers will sit in pods that will travel faster than the airplanes through pressurized tubes using magnetic levitation. This will reduce the travel time from hours to a matter of minutes.

What is hyperloop?

Hyperloop is the technology where pods containing passengers travel through steel tubes that are partially vacuumed. Any resistance to motion such as friction and air resistance is completely eliminated in this technology. When levitated in a vacuum without any resistance to motion, a slight push is enough to set the pod in motion thus using less energy for travel. The pods can travel as fast as 760 miles per hour which is much faster than air travel. Hyperloops are also claimed to be at least ten times safer than the flights.

Hyperloop in India

While many countries are competing to build the world’s first hyperloop, India is already up and ready. The project to construct a hyperloop between Mumbai and Pune has already been officially started and India may be the first country in the world to build a hyperloop. The travel time between Mumbai and Pune can be reduced from 210 minutes to just 30 minutes. The travel time can be reduced by at least 85 % in hyperloop. While airports tend to be present beyond the city limits, hyperloop can be easily located within the city just like a metro. This increases accessibility. Moreover, unlike airports, hyperloop won’t require passengers to report two hours in advance thus making it an easier choice for the daily commute.

Safety:

Although hyperloops involve traveling at high speeds it is very much safe. The reason is, any potential break on the tubes due to earthquakes or any other reason will only slow down the pods because of the breach in the air resistance level. These pods can be directed to the neighboring terminals using auxiliary power. Moreover, the hyperloops are designed to be carried by pylons that have the bearings to withstand any lateral movements due to earthquakes.

How hyperloop will affect society:

With the hyperloop in play, a person can live in City A and commute to work to city B without much hassle.

1. This will reduce the need for living in the city where we work.
2. Both cities will be contributing to economic growth.
3. Employment opportunities will be shared between the cities.
4. The housing prices would reduce significantly as there will not be any need to live in the same city.
5. The pollution can be redistributed and thus can be neutralized easily.
6. Any shortage of water in the developed cities can be met because of the redistribution of the population.
7. Hyperloops can be powered using renewable energy resources offering a cleaner alternative to air, road, and rail travel.
8. Congestion due to traffic will also be reduced.

In cities like Mumbai where the population is overflowing, hyperloop could be a lifesaver. Hyperloop will provide the above-mentioned advantages and thus save the city from its current state. How will this affect civil engineers? When people are preferring to commute to a different city for work and stay in their own home towns, tremendous opportunities are opened for civil engineers. This increases the economic growth of the home town. For example, on weekends people will tend to spend time and money in the home town. This will increase the need for building new projects that would encourage people to spend time outside. This increases housing needs, hospital needs, recreational needs, educational needs, and transport needs. Primarily, many cities will be developing in economic and social aspects in parallel to the developed city. The home town will soon be needing many infrastructure projects to cope up with the economic development of the city.