After the collapse of the "Super High-Speed Rail," Tesla's "Underground Tunnel" is also in jeopardy.

After the failure of the "hyperloop," the underground public transportation system envisioned by Tesla's subsidiary, The Boring Company, is facing increasingly dim prospects.

Tesla had hoped to allow Americans to travel at the speed of sound from Los Angeles to San Francisco or from Washington to New York. However, since the establishment of The Boring Company in 2016, progress on his grand vision has been slow. The only commercial project completed by The Boring Company is an underground road connecting the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) to a large casino, with a speed limit of 64 kilometers, far from the speed of sound.

In the seven years since its establishment, The Boring Company has raised over $800 million in funding, but the actual projects implemented are far from Tesla's promises, and he has mentioned this company less and less on social media.

Sole completed project struggles, uncertain future for The Boring Company

At the end of 2016, during his commute in Los Angeles, Tesla tweeted:

"Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging."

However, Tesla's initial vision of San Francisco - Los Angeles and Washington - New York proved to be too challenging. After more than seven years of operation, the only commercial project completed by The Boring Company is a greatly scaled-down shuttle bus system for the LVCC.

According to the official website, this route connects the newly built venue of LVCC with the existing venue, with a branch line taking passengers from the convention center to a large casino on Las Vegas Boulevard. The total length is 2.7 kilometers.

Currently, this route only operates during conventions, with passengers transported by Tesla vehicles driven by dedicated drivers, with a speed limit of 64 miles per hour. The Boring Company claims that the line can accommodate over 4,500 passengers per hour, but the actual number of passengers is far fewer.

Media reports indicate that during a conference in early February, The Boring Company's station was nearly empty, with only a few groups of passengers waiting for a vehicle to take them through the tunnel. A staff member told the media that although the conference floors were quite busy, few people actually used The Boring Company's underground shuttle bus system. On the day of the media visit, The Boring Company had 20 drivers, but 6 of them had gone home due to lack of work.

This tunnel is the first segment of the expansion of the Las Vegas underground transportation system, with The Boring Company planning to build a loop connecting various areas of Las Vegas, but progress has been slow.

In early July last year, The Boring Company released a video showing its machine breaking ground in a parking lot at the Encore hotel in Vegas, stating that the 0.7-kilometer excavation took only 10 weeks and that the infrastructure construction of the tunnel was expected to be completed in just a few weeks. However, seven months have passed, and Boring Company still hasn't completed the station for the Encore hotel. Many other projects along the loop also have not announced specific timelines. According to former employees cited by the media, Boring Company had pitched tunnels to many businesses in Vegas, including major casino groups like Caesars and MGM, but no related contracts have been disclosed yet.

The tunnel boring machine developed by Boring Company, named Prufrock, claims to work six times faster than regular machines, able to dig 1.6 kilometers per week. However, some employees have told the media that although theoretically the machine can dig faster, it requires more staff to manage.

Including the preparation work before tunnel excavation, Boring Company took 18 months to complete the first 2.7-kilometer section of the loop, followed by another year to build the spur connecting LVCC and major casinos. By this calculation, Boring Company's tunneling speed is roughly 1.6 kilometers per year.

Frequent Site Accidents

Although the project is not yet completed, Boring Company has already caused quite a bit of trouble for Tesla. Many employees have complained to regulatory agencies and the media, stating that Boring Company's projects are often accident-prone.

Last summer, a dumpster made up of two-ton concrete blocks collapsed, nearly crushing an intern to death. Employees told the media that the accident occurred because the dumpster was overloaded with sludge, causing the metal support frame to break and the intern to fall.

Some workers told Nevada's Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors that at the Encore hotel section, workers dig tunnels 24 hours a day, six days a week, sometimes even seven days, working 12-hour shifts and needing permission to use the restroom.

In addition to long working hours, workers also reported frequent machine malfunctions and a lack of personal protective equipment. One former employee said Boring Company was "trying to complete all work at a low cost."

Last fall, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration identified eight "serious" violations and fined Boring Company $112,500.