AUSTIN, Texas — The idea of a hyperloop tunnel between Austin and San Antonio came from a post on X from Elon Musk that says his The Boring Company can significantly cut down travel time between the two Central Texas cities.
The Boring Company is based in Bastrop and currently runs an underground transportation system in Las Vegas using Tesla cars to shuttle passengers under the Las Vegas Convention Center and parts of the Las Vegas Strip. In the post, Musk says the tunneling company is working on a simple, precursor hyperloop tunnel that would go over 200 miles per hour.
While the idea promises fast travel underground, no details on how much the project will cost, location or the time it will take to build have been released.
Spectrum News spoke to transportation experts about the possibility of the hyperloop becoming a reality. Christian Claudel is a transportation engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He said while the idea is technically feasible, it would be a while before the hyperloop was part of everyday life.
“People are very conservative in transportation,” Claudel said. “So you won’t be able to roll out a system that will be approved by federal authorities immediately, something as new as Hyperloop.”
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority told us they were not aware of Musk’s proposal prior to his social media post and are not involved in any plans for this. They pointed out that The Boring Company has previously proposed an intra-city tunnel system connecting San Antonio’s airport with the downtown, but that project has stalled.
In a statement, Executive Director James Bass said, “An 80-mile intercity tunnel would face significant hurdles, including regulatory approvals, environmental considerations, and land-rights issues.”
Bass added, “At the same time, Mr. Musk has achieved notable successes in several ventures by pursuing approaches that departed from conventional industry practices.”
We reached out to The Boring Company for more details but did not hear back. However, the company did affirm Musk’s original post and shared that they have a handful of jobs available related to the project.