Expansion approved for Musk’s Vegas venture

The company has won approval for its Loop network to expand to a future station at the new Resorts World near the Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVCC), reported The Independent.

In July, Musk released computer-generated images of the first commercial Loop station. In place of high-speed futuristic vehicles travelling at super-high speeds in a partial vacuum, the Loop will instead feature Tesla Model 3 electric cars conveying passengers between stations at speeds of up to 155mph (248km/hr).

The first stretch, set to open later this year, will be from one side of the Convention Centre to the other, a distance of around one mile (1.6km). This will be followed by the extension to Resorts World. However, the network is eventually planned to cover numerous stops on the ‘Strip’, north Las Vegas, both terminals of the airport and eventually on to Los Angeles – a distance of around 228 miles (365km) as the crow flies.

Musk, who owns Tesla and SpaceX, claims he can reduce the time and cost of conventional tunnelling methods by a factor of ten.

Construction to Resorts World is scheduled to start at the end of 2020.