Tesla founder Elon Musk Wants to Build a Hyper What?

Musk want to build a Hyperloop.  A machine able to transport passengers from  downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes.

Described as a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table - Musk envisions the Hyperloop traveling 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet train, all the while costing you much less than an air ticket or for that manner cheaper than any other mode of transport. 

So what started him in this direction?  Well it seems Elon doesn't put much stock in the proposed bullet train.  First it seems that the Californian bullet would be the slowest in the world and the most expensive, in Musk's mind a complete waste.

But what exactly IS the Hyperloop?  Musk has been uncharacteristically quiet on the particulars.     However in a recent CNBC today Elon was a bit more talkative.  Of the Hyperloop, he said - It's basically an underground bullet train that, freed from pesky terrestrial concerns like weather, farm animals, and friction, could cross the country in hours instead of days. 

Wait you you say.  We can already fly across in hours, which is true, but at greater expense and at substantially higher risk.  

Musk says that the tech to build such a device already exists - basically superconducting magnets.

But as the Atlantic Wire writes:  

• Sadly, the Hyperloop will never, ever happen. It's a brilliant, pie-in-the-sky idea that the realities of politics and construction permits would render all but impossible. Even if the technology is perfect, we can barely build a train from Orlando-to-Tampa (using already obsolete technology)

Business Insider link HERE