Elon Musk says he has “verbal govt approval” to build an underground hyperloop railway that will get passengers from New York to Washington, DC in just 29 minutes — including stops in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Imagine it: Cherry trees, crab cakes, cheesesteaks and cheesecake, all in half an hour. Musk says he can make it happen, with your help.
“Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins,” he tweeted Thursday, boring absolutely no one. (The clever name alludes to the company’s mission of building underground tunnels.”
He added: “City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city… Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly … If you want this to happen fast, please let your local & federal elected representatives know. Makes a big difference if they hear from you.”
The Boring Company is currently working on solving Los Angeles’ traffic woes through a network of subterranean buses. For the uninitiated, the Hyperloop stems from Musk’s 2013 plan to zip passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco at several hundred miles per hour by shooting transportation capsules through tubes. (Think parcels darting through mail tubes.)
City center to city center in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
The Tesla and SpaceX head honcho did not share who gave the verbal approval or which states have given him the green light. A representative for Musk told TheWrap they don’t have more to reveal on who gave the okay or where it came from at this time.
The Boring Company has already been working on building underground tunnels below SpaceX’s L.A. headquarters, and Musk said he had a “promising conversation” with Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti to connect LAX to Union Station, the city’s main train stop.
Musk’s been active on Twitter following the announcement, saying the New York to DC tunnels will be built simultaneously to the L.A. project. He then teased a Los Angeles to San Francisco connection and a Texas loop as well.
For sure. First set of tunnels are to alleviate greater LA urban congestion. Will start NY-DC in parallel. Then prob LA-SF and a TX loop.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Musk hasn’t expanded much on his idea since its genesis in 2013 — getting the world off fossil fuels and colonizing Mars have been a bigger priority, apparently — but others have looked to pick up the slack. Hyperloop One — an LA-based team not affiliated with Musk — ran with his inspiration and shared last week it had completed its first test run back in May.
There’s no timeframe on when the nifty underground tubes will come to fruition.