World’s First Hyperloop System - 12 Minutes Rides will take You From Abu Dhabi to Dubai - Amazingly Wow !

Elon Musk's grand vision of a Hyperloop system that can transport people and cargo through high-speed vacuum tubes is coming to life in the United Arab Emirates.

The near-supersonic railway would connect the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi with Dubai, the area's most populous city, in only 12 short minutes. This journey normally requires about two hours of travel by car or train.

Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One and Dubai's Road and Transport Authority announced their new partnership Tuesday atop Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

"We are here today to sign a historic agreement with our partners from (the Dubai) Road and Transport Authority ... and we begin to evaluate the delivery of the world's first hyperloop system across the country," Hyperloop One CEO, Rob Lloyd, told reporters.

The Roads and Transport Authority and Hyperloop One have agreed to develop a prototype of the hyperloop and the feasibility of building a hyperloop system that can link the two cities.

Hyperloop One's vision consists of combining autonomous vehicles with Hyperloop technology, according to a company press release:

"Individuals can commute for limited distances within the city in small self-driving vehicles. These vehicles can then board the Hyperloop train to travel for longer distances—including between cities—with speeds that can reach 1,200 kilometers per hour, exceeding aircraft speed. Hyperloop stations will be spread all around the city, providing easy and convenient access. This would effectively reduce travel time between Dubai and Abu Dhabi to less than 12 minutes, and between Dubai and Riyadh to less than 48 minutes.

"The new technology is set to have positive implications on urban planning; it will economize parking spaces as it changes the way individuals commute within the city, as well as to and from logistical centers such as airports and ports—not to mention the impact it will have on shipping."

The deal is also meant to help city-state move forward with the "Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy," which aims to render 25 percent of all transportations in the emirate driverless by 2030.

Although Tesla CEO Elon Musk came up with the futuristic transport idea back in 2013, he is not affiliated with any hyperloop companies. He has, however, encouraged other private companies to turn his vision into reality. Besides Hyperloop One, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is another firm trying to bring the technology to life.

When asked about the project's cost, Hyperloop co-founder Josh Giegel told the Associated Press it would be "somewhere between the cost of putting a road in and a high-speed rail."

The Associated Press reported that at Tuesday's event, Hyperloop officials showed several circular station models for Dubai, including one at Emirates Towers on Dubai's main artery, Sheikh Zayed Road. Dubai's Jebel Ali port is also exploring the possibility of using the technology.

Hyperloop One is currently testing the transport system in the Nevada desert.

The HyperLoop Dream just one step closer to Reality

It was over in 1.9 seconds.

A skeletal metal sled accelerated down a track at 2.5 times the force of gravity, hit 116 miles per hour, and crashed into a sand pit, sending a cloud of dust dramatically into the air.

It was the first public test of Hyperloop One's acceleration technology, an early step toward building a new kind of high-speed transportation system.

"I would really like to note that all of that happened on purpose!" said a giddy Brogan BamBrogan, Hyperloop One's cofounder, after the test was over.

First proposed by Elon Musk in 2013, the Hyperloop envisions sending passengers on levitating pods through partially pressurized tubes at more than 700 miles per hour. Musk open-sourced the idea and now a number of startups are competing to make the technology their own.

Hyperloop One was cofounded in 2014 by BamBrogan, a former SpaceX propulsion engineer, and venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar. The company recently raised $80 million in funding and has more than 150 employees. It changed its name from Hyperloop Technologies this week to avoid confusion with the next closest competitor, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies.

Based in Los Angeles, the company started building its test track on a patch of desert 30 minutes north of the Las Vegas Strip just six months ago. On Wednesday, it bussed in reporters, employees, partners and family members to watch the blink-and-you-missed-it test run from a grandstand.

Down the hill, a control room of engineers counted down the launch. All employees cleared the track area, which was alive with 7,000 volts of electricity.

The 1,000-yard open-air track is just the first part of a larger test track that Hyperloop One is building here. Sections of giant empty tubes sit nearby, each 3.3 meters in diameter and branded with the Hyperloop One logo.

They'll be used to build a 1.5 kilometer enclosed track. Then the company will start testing technology that will allow the sleds to levitate. Because the sleds will glide, passengers will feel only feel the initial acceleration, similar to the start of an airplane ride.

The company is moving fast.

"All of this is to get us into a position to run this full scale, full system test later this year," said Pishevar.

Hyperloop One's ambitious plan is to start moving cargo by 2019, and carrying passengers by 2021. It recently announced partnerships with a number of well-known transportation companies around the world and is looking into locations for its first commercial track.

Wednesday's test run didn't break any speed records or even look particularly dazzling up close, but for the Hyperloop One employees who have been working 12 hour shifts around the clock for months, it was a momentous occasion.

"This is rad, and it's going to get a lot radder from here," said BamBrogan.