Hyperloop One of the US has signed an agreement with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to study high-speed routes that will reduce travel time between Abu Dhabi and Dubai to 12 minutes from the present two-hour drive.

With this deal, the UAE is one step closer to being the world’s first location for a new form of high-speed transport, and the emirates could see a hyperloop within next five years, said the Los Angeles-based company.

The hyperloop will be made of large long tubes in which pods will travel at very high speeds of up to 500 mph between one destination and another, reducing journey times for people and goods between Abu Dhabi and Dubai to a mere 12 minutes.   

Hyperloop One will work with McKinsey & Company and the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) on a detailed feasibility study being sponsored by the RTA.

The company said it is reinventing transportation by developing the world’s first hyperloop, an integrated structure to move passengers and cargo between two points immediately, safely, efficiently, and sustainably.

The work is the result of deep collaboration between Hyperloop One and BIG’s team of architects and engineers. 

Hyperloop One announced a deal in August to pursue a cargo Hyperloop One system with ports operator DP World at its deepwater Jebel Ali port in Dubai. 

Its growing presence on the ground in the UAE underscores the demand for Hyperloop One technology for passengers and freight in the country, it said.