Elon Musk Outlines How His Chicago ‘Loop’ Transport Will Work

Elon Musk’s Boring Co. got the green light to work on a project connecting downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport, its first major city contract. The plans represent both a victory for the 18-month-old startup and a reality check for the billionaire.

The project, dubbed Loop, doesn’t match the ambitions Musk laid out in a 2013 white paper. That vision called for a system that would run at 760 miles per hour, which he thought would be perfect for connecting cities that are a few hundred miles apart. The Chicago train is expected to reach speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. That should get passengers to the airport in about 12 minutes—still a significant improvement on current options, which often take about 40 minutes by train or car.