One of the startups vying to make it a reality, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), has announced a partnership with the South Korean government and local universities to build the world's first full-scale Hyperloop system.

First described by Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper, the Hyperloop system would see passengers and cargo shuttled through near-vacuum tubes at close to the speed of sound. Such a system could see people traveling between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes.

The agreement was actually signed back in January but only revealed this week, and sees HTT team up with the South Korean government's department of technological innovation and infrastructure, along with the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building (KICT) and Hanyang University.