Elon Musk now building high-speed electric trains in Chicago

Elon Musk’s Boring Company is now all set to build up a multi-billion dollar quick transit system between Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and the downtown.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel declared that it has selected Boring Company headed by billionaire Elon Musk as it won the bid for operating a multi-billion dollar high-speed train between the city’s airport and downtown.

The firm plans to transport passengers through the ‘Chicago Express Loop’ between the two locations in around 12 minutes to and fro, a trip that is usually 40 minutes via the city’s Blue Line. This will be accomplished by making use of electric vehicles called skates that run through new twin underground tunnels.

The skates will be an eight to 16-seat vehicles that will travel up to 150 miles per hour through the firm’s 12ft wide tunnels that will be located 30-60ft underground. Single passenger vehicles will also be available, but no further data has been provided about these for now, wrote Mashable.

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The skates will leave each station as regularly as every 30 seconds and will operate 20 hours per day for seven days a week. Though the fares have not yet been finalized, but as per The Boring Company, it ‘will be less than half the typical price of taxi/ride-share services, though higher than the Blue Line’.

Each vehicle will be battery-powered electric skate and has been based on the Tesla Model X. They will be mechanically confined to a concrete track and will feature a climate controlled cabin, Wi-Fi, and luggage storage space.

As per The Chicago Tribune, the entire project should cost less than $1 billion and will be funded solely by the company with no taxpayer subsidy.

“This transformative project will help Chicago write the next chapter in our legacy of innovation and invention,” said Mayor Emanuel in a statement provided to Mashable.