Dubai's RTA puts brakes on Hyperloop route claims
Roads and Transport Authority denies route has been planned between Dubai and other emirates
Dubai's transport authority on Thursday poured cold water on plans to build a revolutionary Hyperloop system connecting the city with other emirates.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said in a series of tweets that there is "no specific route for operating the Hyperloop system in Dubai or between Dubai and other emirates", a week after US-based Hyperloop TT announced that it had signed an agreement with Aldar Properties.
It said the deal would allow the company to begin construction of a Hyperloop system in Aldar’s Seih Al Sdeirah landbank in Abu Dhabi, located near the emirate’s border with Dubai and the Expo 2020 site and Al Maktoum International Airport.
But the RTA responded by saying: "The system is still under the process of research and development, and RTA is closely following the developments in this technology, and will study several options for determining the route which will be announced in the future."
The RTA stressed that projects of this magnitude and complexity "must be preceded by careful planning and engineering studies", adding that feasibility studies must first take place to reduce the potential risks and maximise the benefit of the project.
Last week, HyperloopTT said it plans construction of the line in several phases starting within a 10km allocation, with further development aimed at creating a commercial Hyperloop network across the UAE and beyond.
Earlier this month, HyperloopTT began construction of the first full-scale passenger and freight prototype system in Toulouse, France, and expects delivery of the first passenger capsule later this year.
In November 2016, Dubai’s RTA announced plans to evaluate a hyperloop connection between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which could reduce travel times between the two emirates to just 12 minutes.
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