By rosebell
With the aim of commissioning the Dubai Loop project, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Elon Musk’s infrastructure firm The Boring Company (TBC).
Introducing a 17km pilot Loop system as the first phase of the underground transport solution, The Boring Company is due to bring its Loop system to Dubai as Dubai Loop under this partnership.
The date of awarding this agreement was during the 2025 World Governments Summit in Dubai.
With a capacity of transporting over 20,000 passengers per hour, the Dubai Loop pilot will include 11 stations and is also going to feature electric vehicles to travel at speeds up to 160 km/h, whereas intending to help alleviate traffic in congested city areas.
Linking major hubs across the city, the Dubai Loop System is due to decrease travel times to just minutes, while this expanded system aims to handle over 100,000 passengers per hour, addressing urban transport demands.
Considering that developing into a next-gen underground transport system across Dubai is the aim of this initial phase, the collaboration will use sustainable, new technologies for efficient, safe passenger travel with The Boring Company’s Loop system. It will also cause minimal surface disruption due to advanced tunnel-boring technology.
The announcement, however, did not specify a rollout date for the loop.
Speaking via satellite Elon Musk said: “I think once people try it out, they’ll be like wow this is really cool. It’ll seem so obvious in retrospect but until you actually do it you don’t know. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be like a wormhole and you’ll just wormhole from one part of the city and, boom, you’re at another part of the city. It’s great. I’m looking forward to this partnership.”
Intending to integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-driven transport solutions, alongside the solar-powered RAILBUS and Dubai-Abu Dhabi Sea glider, Dubai Loop is part of Dubai’s broader strategy.
Additionally, this project is slated to support UAE’s ambition to advance in futuristic urban planning.
Musk’s The Boring Company’s expertise is in creating safe, fast-to-dig, and cost-effective underground transportation tunnels.
Being launched in 2017, this construction company has previously built an underground tunnel in California and Las Vegas, US. TBC said its loop system has already moved over two million passengers in Las Vegas since 2021.
Vegas Loop, under development, will eventually span 110km with 104 stations, carrying 90,000 passengers per hour.
