<p>It is official. Pune-based Tanay Manjrekar is the first Indian to ride a HyperLoop, a technology that could revolutionise high-speed travel in the future. On Tuesday, as he stepped out of a pod at Virgin’s test facility in Las Vegas, United States, Manjrekar knew he had made history.</p>.<p>In 15 seconds flat, the test pod had accelerated to 170 kmph, covering 400 metres in a jiffy. “The HyperLoop pod accelerated to 0.9Gs in 6.4 seconds before decelerating and stopping. The ride was very smooth. It was the most memorable 15 seconds of my life,” Manjrekar later told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>The DevLoop test facility in Las Vegas is 500m long, but Virgin HyperLoop has proposed to build a larger certification facility in West Virginia. The corridor length is expected to be over six miles. </p>.<p>Trained for several months on the project, Manjrekar knew the ride was the real thing.</p>.<p>“A lot of hard work and dedicated teamwork had gone into it. I was very excited to take the ride,” he recalled. The ride was part of a certification process, a demonstration that HyperLoop would be safe and steady. On Tuesday morning, Manjrekar, a Power Electronics Specialist, and fellow passenger Anney Hyunh, a manager at Virgin’s IT division, stepped into the test pod beaming. They wore regular casual clothes but were secured to their seats with belts. “Being a passenger, you don’t need to look like an astronaut.”</p>.<p>The smooth acceleration meant passenger comfort was a priority. “A passenger should not even feel the acceleration,” he said. The test pod was a two-seater, but eventually the commercial version would be much bigger with a capacity to seat 28 passengers. </p>.<p>How soon will a commercial HyperLoop pod be ready, and where? It could take over a decade, but Manjrekar is optimistic that it might just be in India. </p>.<p>“It could be anywhere in India. I could just fly down to Mumbai and take a HyperLoop ride to Pune. I really want this to be in India,” he said.</p>.<p>Next on Virgin’s horizon is certification, and officials say this could be achieved by 2025 once the West Virginia facility is ready. Besides the Mumbai-Pune corridor and a contract signed for a feasibility study for an airport to city corridor in Bengaluru, Virgin is also looking at projects in West Asia. </p>
<p>It is official. Pune-based Tanay Manjrekar is the first Indian to ride a HyperLoop, a technology that could revolutionise high-speed travel in the future. On Tuesday, as he stepped out of a pod at Virgin’s test facility in Las Vegas, United States, Manjrekar knew he had made history.</p>.<p>In 15 seconds flat, the test pod had accelerated to 170 kmph, covering 400 metres in a jiffy. “The HyperLoop pod accelerated to 0.9Gs in 6.4 seconds before decelerating and stopping. The ride was very smooth. It was the most memorable 15 seconds of my life,” Manjrekar later told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>The DevLoop test facility in Las Vegas is 500m long, but Virgin HyperLoop has proposed to build a larger certification facility in West Virginia. The corridor length is expected to be over six miles. </p>.<p>Trained for several months on the project, Manjrekar knew the ride was the real thing.</p>.<p>“A lot of hard work and dedicated teamwork had gone into it. I was very excited to take the ride,” he recalled. The ride was part of a certification process, a demonstration that HyperLoop would be safe and steady. On Tuesday morning, Manjrekar, a Power Electronics Specialist, and fellow passenger Anney Hyunh, a manager at Virgin’s IT division, stepped into the test pod beaming. They wore regular casual clothes but were secured to their seats with belts. “Being a passenger, you don’t need to look like an astronaut.”</p>.<p>The smooth acceleration meant passenger comfort was a priority. “A passenger should not even feel the acceleration,” he said. The test pod was a two-seater, but eventually the commercial version would be much bigger with a capacity to seat 28 passengers. </p>.<p>How soon will a commercial HyperLoop pod be ready, and where? It could take over a decade, but Manjrekar is optimistic that it might just be in India. </p>.<p>“It could be anywhere in India. I could just fly down to Mumbai and take a HyperLoop ride to Pune. I really want this to be in India,” he said.</p>.<p>Next on Virgin’s horizon is certification, and officials say this could be achieved by 2025 once the West Virginia facility is ready. Besides the Mumbai-Pune corridor and a contract signed for a feasibility study for an airport to city corridor in Bengaluru, Virgin is also looking at projects in West Asia. </p>
