US-based Virgin Hyperloop One has been holding exploratory talks with global investment firms over financing the initial route of Dubai’s planned Hyperloop transport project.

According to Harj Dhaliwal, managing director for Virgin Hyperloop One in the Middle East and Africa, the firm is looking to obtain potential funding commitments for the project while the detailed design of the Hyperloop is being conducted and before the project enters the construction phase.

“We will be looking at commitments, but we are not requiring the investments now … as in any major project of this kind, spending will begin only once the construction starts, which is two or three years from now,” Dhaliwal tells MEED.

This will allow potential investors to observe progress with the technology and other pilot projects before construction work and investment commences, the executive says.

It is understood that the first section of the Hyperloop to be constructed will comprise about 5 kilometres of the proposed 45km route that will link downtown Dubai with the southern part of the emirate.

The shorter route will be used to demonstrate the technology and the environment, and to get safety and regulatory approvals in place before the remaining section of the route is built.

MEED understands the initial section of the Dubai Hyperloop will require “several hundred millions of dollars” of investments.

The existing plan has a provision for the extension of the route from the southern area of Dubai on to Abu Dhabi.

Dhaliwal says Virgin Hyperloop One will be working very closely with the project client,  Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), over the next two years.

Hyperloop infrastructure includes a station or loading platform; a capsule or pod that carries passengers or cargo; and a tube through which the capsule travels that utilises electro-magnetic propulsion and passive magnetic levitation systems. Hyperloop offers theoretical speeds of up to 1,220km an hour.

Hyperloop Transport Technologies (TT), a competing company utilising the same hyper-fast transport concept, signed a contract with the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipal Affairs & Transport in December 2016 for a Hyperloop transport system between Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain. The feasibility study entails route analysis, cost estimates, land rights and a development schedule.

Unlike Virgin Hyperloop One, which relies on venture capital, Hyperloop TT is crowd-funded.