Functioning Hyperloop test track may debut in U.A.E. as soon as 2016

One of the most exciting things about Hyperloop, the futuristic high-speed bank-tube travel dreamed up by Elon Musk, is the project's open-source status. Anyone, anyone at all, can access the plans laid out by Musk and take a crack at breathing life into those blueprints. It's turning into a race to see who becomes the first to make hyperloop a reality, and a surprising new frontrunner has emerged.

For just about as long as we've been obsessed with Hyperloop, the route most associated with the technology has been San Francisco to Los Angeles. Traveling at 500 mph, passengers would traverse the distance between the two cities in just 30 minutes, completely transforming the relationship between the two West Coast titans of business. Hyperloop Technologies CEO Rob Lloyd has said in the past that a working test track is just a year away, and that functioning route from SF to LA could be built within five years.

But while we've all eagerly waited and watched California's Hyperloop ambitions, another part of the world has made plans of its own. By some reports, a Hyperloop track connecting Dubai and Abu Dhabi may be in service before 2020, with 3-4 km pieces of test track between the two cities ready for use in 2016.

XPrize founder, and Hyperloop Technologies board member, Peter Diamandis spoke of the project at the du CEO Forum at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Monday, telling the audience, "If UAE wants, it could be operational before 2020."

A Dubai-Abu Dhabi track would span 146 kilometers (90 miles), and take just 15 minutes to travel end to end.