The government of the western Indian state of Maharashtra has named the Virgin Hyperloop One-DP World (VHO-DPW) consortium as the Original Project Proponent (OPP) for the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project, IANS has reported.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk first proposed the idea of a hyperloop architecture in 2013. Since then, there has been much interest in this mode of transportation that promises to run at over 1,000 kph, almost three times as fast as high-speed rail.

Now, Maharashtra has announced a plan to create the world’s first hyperloop transportation system, promising to link central Pune with Mumbai in under 35 minutes. Currently, travelers take more than 3 hours to cover this distance, whether they use the expressway or the railway.

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