How Musk’s Hyperloop Became Just a Loop in Chicago

The numbers are pretty unbelievable -- at a top speed of 760 miles per hour (more than 1,200 kilometers per hour), the so-called hyperloop proposed by entrepreneur Elon Musk could whisk travelers from New York to Washington in 29 minutes, one-fifth the time needed by Acela, Amtrak’s fastest train. Now, Musk appears to have scaled down those ambitions somewhat, at least for an early version of the idea. He has won a bid in Chicago to build a high-speed express train to its O’Hare International Airport. It’s not quite a signed contract yet, but if the parties proceed, it will give Musk a chance to prove parts of his untested technology.

The transit system aims to connect downtown Chicago with O’Hare, about 15 miles and a $40 taxi ride away. It will use "autonomous electric skates," analogous to train carriages, to carry eight to 16 passengers apiece. The pods will be made by Musk’s other company, Tesla Inc., he said. Boring Co. leaves room for the possibility of cars using the system, too. The website says a skate could also hold “a single passenger vehicle.” The system will run underground, giving Musk’s venture a chance to show off its tunnel-boring technology. The company has said it’s faster and cheaper than other subterranean projects. “Tunnel construction and operation will be silent, invisible and imperceptible at the surface,” the company said.