Commuters traveling between Central Texas’ two biggest metro hubs could eventually skip I-35 traffic altogether. Elon Musk has revealed that The Boring Company is actively working on a high-speed underground transit link connecting Austin and San Antonio.
Musk shared the ambitious infrastructure project on X, noting that The Boring Company is planning a “simple, precursor Hyperloop tunnel” to connect Austin and San Antonio with targeted travel speeds in excess of 200 mph. He added that traveling between the two cities can currently take up to two-and-a-half hours due to traffic congestion, but the project could cut that down to just 30 minutes or less.
Covering the roughly 80-mile stretch between the two cities at speeds exceeding 200 mph would drastically change travel across the region. Musk didn’t offer an estimated construction start date or a projected completion window, stating only that active planning is underway.
Expanding the Texas Tunnel Footprint
The proposed corridor represents a natural step for tunneling ventures in the Lone Star State. Austin serves as Tesla’s global corporate headquarters and houses Gigafactory Texas, making regional transport links an obvious priority.
The announcement also follows news from earlier this spring, when The Boring Company announced three new tunnel projects it will be building for free, including a municipal route in Dallas. Pushing toward an inter-city route marks a noticeable shift from localized shuttles toward regional mass transit.
How the Precursor Hyperloop Works
Unlike a full-fledged Hyperloop — which envisions passenger pods traveling through sealed vacuum tubes at near-supersonic speeds — a precursor tunnel focuses on high-speed electric transport in a streamlined underground tube.
In existing setups like The Boring Company’s Las Vegas Convention Center Loop, standard Tesla vehicles ferry convention guests between stations beneath the surface, avoiding pedestrian congestion and vehicle traffic.
However, an 80-mile arterial tunnel connecting Austin and San Antonio could look quite different. Because Tesla already operates fully unsupervised Cybercab and Model Y robotaxis on public roads in Austin, this long-distance tunnel could easily become the first dedicated subterranean corridor to host driverless fleets. Without surface weather, cross traffic, or unexpected road hazards, autonomous vehicles could safely sustain 200 mph speeds.
Securing right-of-way permits and tunneling 80 miles across Texas limestone will certainly take time. But if The Boring Company pulls it off, the daily crawl along I-35 could be replaced by a 30-minute zip underground.
