Plans for a high-speed tube allowing passengers to travel from Madrid to Barcelona in just 30 minutes have been unveiled at a technology conference.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk's Hyperloop scheme involves a high-speed train running at 1,200km per hour (745mph) which aims to connect cities through low-pressure steel tubes.
Travelling between Madrid and Barcelona - a distance of around 620km - on the Hyperloop would take less than half the time of a typical plane journey of about 75 minutes.
Plans for a 8km test track to be built in southern California near Musk's Space X venture, have already been announced.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors
At the xSpain technology conference, which took place in Madrid over the weekend, Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies said the technology for the train was already available, according to thelocal.es.
“We already have the technology. We are currently working to get the necessary licenses and will begin construction next year, opening to the public in 2018 or 2019," he said.
The prototype, he said, would transport more than 10 million people every year.
Just relocated our tubes into the new campus expansion. We are rolling in DTLA!!! pic.twitter.com/uboa5ApLfC
— HyperloopTech (@HyperloopTech) September 9, 2015
The project may seem ambitious but in a recent interview with CNN Money, Mr Musk said he did not think it was that difficult.
He said: “I know there are various companies that are trying to create the Hyperloop, and honestly I think it is a lot easier than people think. Blueprints are always kind of complicated, and, yes, there is math, but it’s really not that hard.”
