Virgin Hyperloop One, a DP World-backed company developing the futuristic transportation concept inspired by Elon Musk, signed an agreement with the Indian State of Maharashtra to build the world’s first hyperloop route between Pune and Mumbai – shrinking the time taken to travel between the two cities from three hours to 25 minutes.
"I believe Virgin Hyperloop One could have the same impact on India in the 21st century as trains did in the 20th century," said British tycoon Sir Richard Branson in India. He made an undisclosed investment in the company last October, becoming non-executive chairman and rebranding the company to Virgin Hyperloop One.
“The Pune-Mumbai route is an ideal first corridor as part of a national hyperloop network that could dramatically reduce travel times between India’s major cities to as little as two hours. It will also help alleviate the misery of people sitting in traffic, hour after hour.”
Hyperloop is a proposed method of transportation that could shunt people and cargo at speeds of up to 700mph. It was unveiled by businessman and inventor Elon Musk in 2013, who claimed it could take passengers from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes, less than half the time it takes in an aircraft.
The technology comprises an airless tube that works like a vacuum, using magnets to propel floating pods from one point to another. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes.
There are several firms attempting to bring the technology to market, including Elon Musk, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and Virgin Hyperloop One, which is backed by the UAE ports operator DP World, whose chairman Sultan bin Sulayem is a board member.
The proposed hyperloop route will link central Pune, Navi Mumbai International Airport, and Mumbai in 25 minutes, connecting 26 million people and helping to create a “thriving, competitive megaregion”, according to Mr Branson.
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Read more:
Exclusive: Virgin Hyperloop One to begin building first transport system by 2019, CEO says
Branson's Virgin forms partnership with Hyperloop One investment
Hyperloop may be more trouble than it's worth
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The system will support 150 million passenger trips annually, saving more than 90 million hours of travel time, and providing citizens with greater opportunities for social and economic mobility.
It could also move palletised freight and light cargo between the Port of Mumbai and Pune, helping to support India’s expanding logistics industry.
Under the agreement with the State of Maharashtra – which follows a pre-feasibility study agreement between Virgin Hyperloop One and the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority last November – the company will commence a six-month feasibility study followed by a procurement stage.
Construction of the hyperloop will start with an operational demonstration track to complete within two to three years. That will serve as a platform to test, certify and regulate the system ahead of commercial operations to begin in 2021.
The Pune-Mumbai route would bring $55 billion of socio-economic benefits over 30 years, the pre-feasibility study found. The fully-electric transport system would also ease road congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 150,000 tons annually.
Dubai-based DP World and Caspian Venture Capital invested together $50m in the company in November 2016, bringing the total financing raised by Virgin Hyperloop One to $295m since it was founded in 2014. Mr Branson has declined to reveal the size of his investment.
Before Mr Branson’s investment, when it was named Hyperloop One, the Los Angeles-based company signed an early-stage agreement with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority in 2016 to examine the business case for a hyperloop between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which it claims would cut the journey time between the two cities from 160 minutes to 12 minutes.
The company has a similar agreement in place with DP World to assess the case for using Hyperloop technology to move freight from container ships docked at Jebel Ali to a planned new inland container depot.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
More coverage from the Future Forum
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Company%20profile
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
South Africa squad
: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now