Ziyavudin Magomedov and Richard Branson will create a super-high-speed train for India

The project of high-speed train between the Indian cities of Pune and Mumbai will be created by the company Virgin Hyperloop One, whose investors are businessmen Richard Branson and Ziyavudin Magomedov.
19.02.2018
RBC
Origin source
The company Virgin Hyperloop One, whose investors are billionaires Richard Branson and Ziyavudin Magomedov, agreed to develop a project of a high-speed train between the Indian cities of Pune and Mumbai. This is the first project after testing the technology.

The corresponding agreement was signed on Sunday, February 18, between VHO and the Department of Development of Pune Urban District in Mumbai at the investment forum Magneric Maharashtra, RBC correspondent reports.

The feasibility study should be developed within six months. After its approval, VHO will also receive the right to apply for direct construction of the route (a total length of 136 km), which will be divided into two stages: the creation of a test 10-kilometer section and the laying of the main part of the route. The completion stages are planned in 2021 and 2024-2025 respectively. The cost of the project is $ 5 million, the cost of construction of the first 10-kilometer section is estimated at $ 300 million. At the same time, Magomedov specified to RBC that the construction time can be shortened after completion of the design.

The agreement to build the first Hyperloop after testing was achieved at a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the framework of the SPIEF-2017.

What is Hyperloop

The project of hyper-speed train system Hyperloop was invented by the head of SpaceX Ilon Mask, however he did not realize it himself, but only laid out in open access the calculations for the creation of a transport system consisting of steel pipes, within which a train can travel at a speed of 1200 km / h in the form airtight capsule. Thus, the train will be able to cover the distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles (about 600 km) in 30 minutes.

Project Mask was interested in, in particular, the startup Hyperloop One, which began to develop it in 2014. The main investor was the venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, later the project was invested by the owner of the Suma group, Ziyavudin Magomedov, $ 50 million.

The cost of Hyperloop One, according to Recode sources, is estimated at $ 700 million following the last round of financing ($ 85 million) held in September. In total, the company has already invested $ 245 million.

As explained in the autumn in an interview with RBC Magomedov, the business model VHO suggests that the company is not everywhere will be an investor and operator of construction. "The company model is an IP-provider (intellectual property). In other words, it will sell the rights to use its patented technological solutions, "the businessman said. - VHO can participate in actual construction, but I believe that it will be the basis of an external investor, somewhere it may be the state. That is, it will be both b2g- and b2b-projects ".

The owner of exclusive rights to introduce Hyperloop technology in Russia, CIS and Eurasia is a subsidiary of the Suma group - Hyperloop Eurasia.

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