Hyperloop could be heading to Dubai - and it could let you travel to Fujairah in 10 minutes

4 months ago

Hyperloop has yet again taken another big step from being a futuristic engineering concept towards reality – as more and more cities are joining the race to build quicker transport.

The latest city to take part is Dubai, which is set to host a competition looking for designs for a radical new mass transit system.

The idea of Hyperloop – where tube shuttles will be able to travel close to 760mph – came from South African entrepreneur Elon Musk.

But although Musk came up with the concept, he didn’t want to build it himself and open-sourced the technology to allow other firms to develop the idea.

The Dubai Future Foundation announced that they will be hosting the “Build Earth Live” contest in September of this year, with aim to cover the design of the Hyperloop in Dubai.

Should it become a reality, the shuttle would be able to transport people from Dubai to Fujairah, a distance of over 105 kilometres (65 miles), in less than 10 minutes.

So far, more than than 100 participants have enrolled under teams from various engineering and scientific international enterprises.

The list will be narrowed down to six teams in the final stage, who will present their project to be evaluated by the judges.

“Dubai is hosting this global event as part of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make the UAE and Dubai a global platform for innovative minds to come together to create futuristic solutions on issues of relevance to humanity,” said Mohammed Al Gergawi, managing director of Dubai Future Foundation.

“This will eventually lead to massive global economic growth, and we aim to keep pace with the rapid developments by focusing on smart application of services and innovation in all fields.”