In the deserts of the United Arab Emirates, one of the most futuristic, fantastical technologies could find footing at last. Hyperloop, the proposed series of tubes that could shuttle humans and goods in pods at breakneck speeds — up to 1,130kph (700mph) — could find a golden opportunity for actual realisation in the UAE.
The company, called Hyperloop One, announced this week that it struck up a deal with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai to build a Hyperloop that could link Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and eventually to other Emirates. The company aims to make that 160-kilometre trip in 12 minutes. In this promotional video for Hyperloop One, we get an idea of what that commute could look like. [...]
Hyperloop is far from an inevitability, however. Substantial roadblocks exist, from funding to feasibility. Some projections predict such a project could cost as much as £33 million per kilometre, and the technological demands required to keep people safe when they're being hurled at demon speeds are significant. Further, how practical is it? How often would someone actually need to make an afternoon jaunt to two cities hundreds of kilometres apart? Then there's the matter of securing permissions to build, and some places are difficult to infilitrate: In the US state of Texas, some residents are resisting even building a standard bullet train linking Houston and Dallas, and don't want construction to cut through highways or their own backyards.
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