Elon Musk Says First High-Speed Boring Tunnel Will Open In December
Elon Musk has just revealed that his highly anticipated Boring Company tunnel will be officially open on December 10. The Tesla CEO took to Twitter on Sunday to tell the world that the high-speed subway concept is “almost done.” According to the Los Angeles Times, Musk’s Boring Co. tunnel beneath the city of Hawthorne will be revealed on the evening of December 10 — opening for free rides to the public on December 11.
Elon Musk first revealed his idea for a tunnel underneath the infamous Los Angeles traffic in December of 2016.
“Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging…” he tweeted. “It shall be called ‘The Boring Company.'”
The internet immediately went into full speculation mode, wondering if Musk was joking — just musing — or whether he really did have a plan to launch a “boring” company.
Shortly after his original tweets, Musk expanded on his idea, giving the new company a motto.
“Boring, it’s what we do,” he announced.
He then tweeted that he was serious about the idea.
“I am actually going to do this,” he said on December 17, 2016.
By February of 2017, the Boring Company had begun digging a trench in the SpaceX property in Hawthorne, California. By March of that year, the company had started using a tunnel boring machine named Godot to dig in earnest. The 2-mile tunnel extends from Hawthorne along the 405 freeway and ends in Westwood, California.
The first tunnel is almost done
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2018
The cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington D.C. jumped on the tunnel bandwagon — agreeing to issue permits for an underground system within their respective city limits. The company now runs three different boring machines, all working to bring the concept to life.
The Hawthorne tunnel will be the first tunnel to be operational, which the company has dubbed a test tunnel to demonstrate the system. The subway infrastructure shuttles people underground at 150 miles per hour on an electric platform. Riders can either sit in a vehicle carrying up to 16 passengers, or an individual can drive a car onto a platform — which is called a “skate.”
Cars and riders are moved from the surface to the underground tunnel via an elevator, and the company has suggested that cities could either employ a series of shafts into the public transportation infrastructure to move people, or individuals could have access tunnels built into their homes, parking garages or home garages.
Lucky individuals will be able to test out the system in December.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfV8z2JY_bI
