India’s hyperloop test tube to top world charts

Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rolled into IIT Madras’ Thaiyur campus on 15 March 2025, eyeballing a 410-meter Hyperloop test tube—Asia’s longest—and vowing to stretch it another 40 meters to claim the global crown. “Very good results are visible now,” he said, grinning at the vacuum-sealed tube where levitating pods hum on magnetic fields, not tracks. Picture a pod zipping inside, lifted by magnets—a sci-fi dream inching closer to India’s roads, with the minister betting big on homegrown tech.

He didn’t stop there. Vaishnaw tapped Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory to build the project’s electronics, leaning on the crew that wired up Vande Bharat trains. “The entire electronics will come from ICF,” he announced, tying it to the Centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat push. Tutr Hyperloop, an IIT Madras startup, is steering this toward the world’s first commercial run—think Mumbai-Pune in 25 minutes flat. The ministry’s cash and know-how are fueling the ride, with tests already flashing green.

It’s a gritty leap for India—410 meters today, 450 tomorrow, outpacing global labs. Vaishnaw’s visit wasn’t just a photo op; it was a nod to the sweaty innovation at IIT’s Discovery Campus, where students and engineers tweak pods for a 1,200 kmph future. Tamil Nadu’s industrial hum—think Sriperumbudur’s factory belt—gets a boost too, with ICF’s hands on the circuits. A Chennai mechanic might feel the ripple—jobs, tech, a new beat for a city on the move. This is India staking its claim, one tube at a time.