Vision to connect entire Gulf with Hyperloop, Abu Dhabi to Riyadh in 48 minutes

Virgin Hyperloop One, the company that is developing futuristic transit systems in the UAE and India, is looking to connect Gulf countries as well as areas within Dubai, drastically reducing travel time, a senior official said on Sunday.

"We have a vision to connect Gulf region which will enable travelling from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh in 48 minutes and from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in 11 minutes. It will gives an unparalleled advantage on how the whole region, when it is connected, can become an effective zone economically," Harj Dhaliwal, managing director for Middle East and India at Virgin Hyperloop One, said on the sidelines of Gitex Technology Week, which opened at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday.
First look at Dubai-Abu Dhabi Hyperloop
The company is currently working with the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai and Mubadala to look for synergies and developing the UAE project. Virgin Hyperloop One recently signed an agreement with King Abdullah Economic City Authority of Saudi Arabia about a month ago and is exploring opportunities of manufacturing and innovation.

"We are looking at initial rollout of technology approval and certification process for safety etc. in 2025 and then a fully commercial running service around 2027-28 within the UAE and GCC," Dhaliwal said, adding that "there is also opportunity to connect Dubai International airport to Al Maktoum airport and better connectivity of Dubai International to Dubai South after Expo 2020. If you can connect Dubai South to Dubai in just six months, it will make Dubai amazingly accessible for the residents and tourists," he added.

He revealed that there is possibility of having hyperloop manufacturing in the UAE and KSA. He cited the Airbus A380 as an example.

He pointed out that India project is at a very advanced stage and construction will start towards the third-quarter next year for phase 1 between Mumbai and Pune while commercial rollout of Phase 1 spanned over 11.8km is expected to be done by 2024 and then construction for the whole project will be complete by 2028 for commercial launch.

However, Dhaliwal stressed that GCC rollout could be ahead of the Indian launch because the process of approval here in GCC is much faster. "We started India ahead of GCC but it is taking more time to start there; procedures and approvals are faster here in the GCC and the track record is quite amazing," he added.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com