Abu Dhabi taps The Boring Company to study transport and utility tunnels

Abu Dhabi has signed an exploratory agreement with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to assess underground transport and utility tunnels across the emirate. For residents, it puts possible transport links and infrastructure improvements on the agenda, though the announcement names no route, project budget or construction timetable.

The agreement was signed at Abu Dhabi’s Liveability and Investment Exhibition by infrastructure centre director general Maysarah Mahmoud Salim Eid and Boring Company president Steve Davis. The work will examine whether potential projects are feasible and how they could be built and operated, alongside exchanges on safety, maintenance and tunnelling methods.

Dubai has a construction contract

The useful comparison is nearby Dubai. The Boring Company says it has a construction contract with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority for a pilot linking the Dubai International Financial Centre and Dubai Mall: 6.4 kilometres of tunnels and four stations. Its project page labels Dubai “Under Contract,” a more concrete commitment than Abu Dhabi’s assessment agreement.

Loop, the company’s passenger transport system, carries people through tunnels in electric vehicles. Abu Dhabi’s announcement leaves the transport system unspecified and also includes utility tunnels, so it shouldn’t be read as confirmation of a particular Loop network.

That broader scope fits the company’s existing offering: it markets tunnels for utilities and freight as well as passenger transport. The next useful milestone would be a named project with a route, funding arrangement and delivery schedule. Which would you want Abu Dhabi to prioritise first: passenger links or utility infrastructure?