I think it’s fair to say Musk is a controversial person - my comment at the end was intended as a tongue-in-cheek reflection of the fact that discussion of the fact that any discussion of him and his work will lead to disagreements - I certainly wasn’t trying to start an argument, but forums are for discussion, and sometimes discussion leads to differences of opinion. None of the above was intended to be me having a go at you, by the way, and I sincerely apologise if it’s upset you.
For the record, I don’t hate Elon Musk - but I do think his approach to public infrastructure is wrong-headed, and his attitude towards his employees is negligent (on mobile, but I’m happy to dig out sources if people want later). That’s the basis for my personal opinion of him.
Perhaps if I explain myself a little better you’ll understand where I’m coming from - public transport and urban planning ideas are something I’m excited and passionate about (I’d get out more, but WHO advice prevents this under the current circumstances). I’ll limit my points to Hyperloop and The Loop, since that’s the topic of the thread and they’re both infrastructure projects using similar technologies.
You’re absolutely right that private companies can do as they want (within reason and the law), but any infrastructure, even a private railway, relies on public planning permission and funding. The type of public transport which is built has implications at a political level: for example, The Loop is a system which would serve only those rich enough to run a car in a city: and the capacity would be significantly lower than conventional trains. A light rail system has significantly higher capacity, is accessible to everyone, has a far more frequent service, and uses technology which is tried, tested, safe, highly reliable and ubiquitous. The last point is especially relevant because that makes it cheaper! I’d be happy to point towards more detailed articles which examine the two. Building trains delivers higher public benefit than the Loop, right off the bat.
Some of these points pertain to Hyperloop as well (as Musk has said, Loop is a stepping stone to Hyperloop). Others in this thread have pointed out the technological issues with maintaining low pressure or vacuum over an extended asset like a tunnel. Nobody (to my knowledge) has achieved this over a tunnel of that length and diameter. It’s probably possible - but very, very expensive and some way off time wise. On the other hand, high speed rail could be built today, and at an order of magnitude less cost wise because you’re not paying for the development of a new technology to build the line.
Finally, on funding generally: there is a single pot of gold, albeit one generated by political limitations. These projects don’t get funded privately, and if a government builds Hyperloop, it won’t be building high speed rail. If Hyperloop doesn’t work or doesn’t serve all their citizens, then that becomes a very big problem.
Look at it this way: I want cereal. I’m going to develop the technology to hold cornflakes and milk in place while I eat them using jets of air, without getting them all over the kitchen. It’s certainly possible - probably - but nobody has done it yet, and while I’m messing about with the compressor the bowls in the cupboard are gathering dust, and my stomach is rumbling.