Re:Hyperloop One Becomes ‘Virgin Hyperloop One’
by opencl on Thursday October 12, 2017 @02:34PM
(#15460150)
Tunnel boring is orders of magnitude more expensive than railway construction, at typically ~a few hundred million dollars per mile vs ~a few million dollars per mile. I know Musk has plans to magically make tunnel boring significantly cheaper but you need two orders of magnitude cost reduction to make the tunnel digging not cost more than an entire above ground railway.
Cost references: https://tunneltalk.com/TunnelTECH-Apr2015-Arup-large-diamete...
https://www.compassinternational.net/railroad-engineering-co...
I don't think above ground is economically and technically feasible, there are just too many unanswered issue that almost no one has answer to. Not to mention it will be very very expensive and time consuming.