go through Alex Hevesy/Updated: May 12, 2023 at 9:28AM ET
The high-speed rail in the United States has always been a “natural” project. In fact, the only high-speed train-like vehicle in the US is Amtrak’s Acela service. Acela can reach speeds of 150 miles per hour. It sounds good, at least until you understand how it works. It only operates in a few states along Amtrak’s northeast corridor, and it’s quite expensive, starting at more than $250 for a business-class route between New York City and Boston, MA, and more than $400 for first-class fares. Acela is able to travel fast, but actually travels much slower. For example, the journey from New York City to Boston on the Acela train takes about four hours, almost as long as it takes to travel that distance. Possibly rail travel, but not exactly high speed.
Enter the Hyperloop, an idea for a high-speed train backed by Elon Musk that would take passengers on Over 750 mph. Hyperloop’s first planned “loop” will be a 350-mile loop between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The idea was germinated as early as 2012 in the peace and prosperity. So where is the Hyperloop in its development cycle? As with most things related to Elon Musk, the answer is not very clear.
All the hype, no loop
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In short, there is no existing Hyperloop between LA and San Francisco, except for one from the Boring Company Outside of the mile-long tunnel, the project doesn’t make any real progress as some Teslas will lazily glide by. The tunnel itself is on Northrup Avenue in Hawthorne, California, and the other is in Las Vegas. That’s about as much as any Elon-backed Hyperloop project. The tunnel has been turned into a parking lot for SpaceX employees. The project is currently on hold, Bloomberg reported last November. Given Elon Musk’s penchant for making lofty claims with a dubious track record, it’s likely to remain in development purgatory for quite some time rather than being canceled outright. However, SlashGear has reported on other projects bearing the Hyperloop moniker in the past. But beyond concept sketches and early funding, none of these projects have emerged. Now, in 2023, there is no Hyperloop or Hyperloop-like transportation system running at high speed on US railroads. Over the next few years, Boring Co will attempt to build an efficient Hyperloop. From a point of view of known physics, this is from one city center to another The fastest way for distances less than 2000 miles. Starship is faster for long distance travel.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2022
Last April, Elon tweeted that his Boring Company will be building the Hyperloop “over the next few years.” Admittedly, it’s been only a few months since Musk bought Twitter, and anyone who’s spent any time online knows that Musk has been “distracted” lately, to put it lightly.
