Bengaluru Airport to City Centre in 10 mins? Virgin Hyperloop to Conduct The feasibility study

• Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) and Virgin Hyperloop signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct a feasibility study on the hyperloop network.
• If successful, the travel time between the airport and the city center is to be reduced to 10 minutes.
• With speeds of up to 1,080 kmph, the hyperloop could transport thousands of passengers per hour.
• Meanwhile, Bengaluru airport announced that it would be connected to the suburban railway in a few weeks.

Bengaluru, India's IT hub, may soon get its own hyperloop network as a future mode of mobility that reduces the travel time between the airport and city center to 10 minutes.

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) and Virgin Hyperloop on Sunday signed a first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct a feasibility study for a proposed hyperloop corridor from the Kempegowda International Airport to the city.

The MoU was exchanged virtually between Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman of Virgin Hyperloop and DP World, and TM Vijay Bhaskar, chief secretary of Karnataka government and chairman of the board of directors at BIAL.

The pre-feasibility study focuses on technical, economic, and route feasibility. It is expected to be completed in 2 phases of six months each. With speeds of up to 1,080 kmph, the hyperloop could transport thousands of passengers per hour from Bengaluru Airport to the city center in under 10 minutes, according to the preliminary analysis.

In 2019, a commuter spent an additional 243 hours in traffic while driving during peak hours in Bengaluru according to a report. However, the hyperloop network now will help the people of Bengaluru to save a lot of the time that goes to travel in one of India's most congested cities.

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"The Government of Karnataka has implemented several measures to improve the transport infrastructure of the State. The commissioning of a feasibility study for hyperloop connectivity from BLR Airport is another major step towards building the infrastructure required to define mobility for the future, enabling the efficient movement of people," said Mr.TM Vijay Bhaskar.

Passengers traveling to the Bengaluru airport could streamline their multimodal trip with a seamless check-in and security – for both their hyperloop as well as air travel at centrally-located hyperloop portals which will help in reducing the overall travel time.

“As India’s hub for technology and innovation, Karnataka is embracing hyperloop as a way to keep pace, support clean growth, and open new opportunities for the city," said Mr. Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru airport announced that it would be connected to the suburban railway in a few weeks and have metro connectivity in four years. Bengaluru airport is the busiest airport in South India and also the third-largest in the country.

Hyperloop envisages pods or capsules travelling at high speeds through low-pressure tubes erected on columns or tunneled underground. The system is fully autonomous and sealed, leaving little scope for any driver-related error. In a sealed environment with almost no air resistance, the pods are expected to reach very high speeds.

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