The first passenger terminal in the Vegas Loop vehicle tunnel network being built by Elon Musk’s Boring Company was revealed Thursday, The Verge reported. The station, located below Resorts World Las Vegas, is the first of 55 expected to be set up in the 29-mile tunnel.
The Boring Company already operates a small version of the “Tesla in the Tunnel” system underground at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which opens in early 2021 and involves two 0.8-mile tunnels.
Musk’s startup then proposed a massive citywide expansion, which was finally approved by Clark County officials last year. The system uses human-controlled Model X and Model Y to transport passengers, although Musk has previously said sleds will be used to transport cars through tunnels.
Dubbed Vegas Loop, the system will allow passengers to travel by Tesla between hotel-casinos on the Strip, the city’s new soccer stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and McCarran International Airport, among other things land. The Resorts World Casino Station was the first to open. The company recently received unanimous approval to expand its Vegas Loop project to include sites at landmarks such as the Stratosphere and Fremont Street.
“Today is a monumental occasion not only for our resort but for Las Vegas,” Resorts World Las Vegas president Scott Sibella said in a statement. The Las Vegas Convention Center is easier than ever to visit our resort and ultimately connect us to major destinations across the city.”
Clark County claims that as many as 57,000 passengers per hour will be able to pass through the tunnel system, and it won’t cost taxpayers money to build it. Boring has previously said it will pay for the construction of the main tunnel but plans to require hotels, casinos, or other businesses that want to build stations to pay for those construction costs.
For several years, the Boring Company has been working on building a tunnel system under Las Vegas. During this time, Musk’s ambitions for a tunnel-based transportation system have changed. He had imagined using sleds to transport cars from the ground to tunnels and back, as well as pods that prioritized bikes and pedestrians. Some of the company’s efforts to dig elsewhere, such as in Chicago, Los Angeles, and the Northeast Corridor, have failed.
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