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takyon writes:

Dubai will consider building a hyperloop route to the United Arab Emirate's capital Abu Dhabi:

The city-state of Dubai announced a deal Tuesday with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to study the potential for building a line linking it to the United Arab Emirate's capital Abu Dhabi. The announcement took place atop the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, with the panorama view of the skyline of this futuristic city-state serving as both a backdrop and a sign of Dubai's desire to be the first to rush toward the future. "We are here today to sign a historic agreement with our partners from (the Dubai) Road and Transport Authority... and we begin to evaluate the delivery of the world's first hyperloop system across the country," the Los Angeles-based company's CEO, Rob Lloyd, told reporters. "We will initially focus on the value that Hyperloop One will deliver in Dubai and across the (United Arab) Emirates."

It sounds like science fiction but earlier this year, Hyperloop One held its first public test in the desert outside Las Vegas. A prototype system rocketed pods through reduced-pressure tubes at speeds of 1,125 kilometers per hour (700 mph). Planners suggest a Dubai-Abu Dhabi travel time via such a system would be a mere 12 minutes - significantly down from the roughly two hours it now takes by car to cover the 150 kilometers (93 miles).

Also at Dezeen, CNET, and Hyperloop One (YouTube).

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