DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A network of tubes whisking passengers across a country at close to the speed of sound may seem like a sci-fi pipe dream, but in the already futuristic city of Dubai it would fit right in.
The city-state just hosted a two-day competition for designs related to a high-speed system known as a hyperloop, in which levitating pods powered by electricity and magnetism would hurtle through low-friction pipes at a top speed of 1,220 kph (760 mph).
The idea, first proposed by Tesla co-founder Elon Musk in 2013, is still being tested. But Dubai has already partnered with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to examine possible lines going to the United Arab Emirates’ capital, Abu Dhabi, and elsewhere.
At a presentation Tuesday, Hyperloop One suggested such a network could include an undersea tunnel connecting Abu Dhabi to Doha, Qatar, with a trip time of just under 22 minutes. The network could extend to the island nation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
“Imagine that you can live in Riyadh, work in Dubai, have your dinner in Abu Dhabi and watch a movie in Qatar,” Saif al-Aleeli, the young CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, which hosted the competition, told The Associated Press. “Dubai is trying, as a mission, to prove that concept.”