Elon Musk, CEO and Owner of Tesla and The Boring Company announced an ambitious underground transportation project, Dubai Loop, in partnership with the Dubai Emirate on Thursday. In its initial phase, the Dubai Loop will span over 17 kilometres to cover 11 stations, with a capacity to transport 20,000 passengers per hour.
While speaking at the World Governments Summit (WGS) 2025 – via satellite – to Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, Musk said that the underground high-speed transport system will be developed in Dubai's most densely populated areas. Musk said that travel in the city would be “cool”. The Loop is expected to cut down travel time to just minutes, with a potential speed of up to 100 mph.
Expounding on the fact that this will allow people to move seamlessly from one part of the city to another, Musk described it as a "wormhole" within the city. He said, “Like, you just wormhole from one part of the city and boom you're out in another part of the city.” He further added that once begun, the loop system will become like an obvious choice as a mode of transport connecting busy areas.
Without divulging details about the partnership, prior to the announcement AlOlama said, “We're going to announce the joint project of Dubai Loop, which is a loop project that is going to cover Dubai's most densely populated areas for people to go from point to point.” Al Olama after the announcement thanked Musk for the partnership. “We look forward to the partnership and we're going to join the first trip, the first pod,” he said.
Musk also expressed reservations about flying taxis or helicopters as he emphasized on how his company is successfully building tunnels across Los Angeles. Musk said other means of transportation using airspace are too noisy and generate a lot of wind force.
Making a clear case for the Dubai Loop, he concluded, “What's really useful about tunnels is alleviating traffic in congested areas. In Las Vegas, we're busy connecting the whole city with all the big hotels, the convention center and the airport.” he added. The Vegas Loop is currently under active development and has been entitled for 104 stations and 110 kilometers of tunnel, eventually transporting over 90,000 passengers per hour throughout the system.
This piece is done in collaboration with DataLEADS, which is an award-winning global digital media and tech company.
