Elon Musk wants to build an underground “Hyperloop” cononecting New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington and he said he’s already got verbal approval to do it.
Musk said a trip from New York to Washington, which now takes about three hours by train, would take just 29 minutes under his plan.
“Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins,” Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted on Thursday morning.
Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Musk didn’t specify which government agency he earned verbal approval from, but in a separate tweet he indicated there was still “a lot of work” to be done.
“Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly,” he wrote on Twitter.
Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
The project would be run through The Boring Company, Musk’s tunneling venture, which has already begun test digging near SpaceX HQ in California.
Musk described the project as a network of underground tunnels that would transport goods on sleds, and that could offer transportation for cars, cargo and more, using Hyperloop, TechCrunch reported.
On its website, the Boring Company says that such tunnels “would also make Hyperloop adoption viable.” SpaceX is not affiliated with the project.
The idea was born from Musk’s frustration with traffic, The Hill reported.
A White House spokesperson declined to say if Musk had been granted any approval, but told The Hill that the administration has had favorable conversations with the tech billionaire.”
“We have had promising conversations to date, are committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector,” the spokesperson said.
The Department of Transportation did not immediately return request for comment.
Musk first released a white paper on his Hyperloop project in 2013.
