By now Elon Musk's ambitious plans for the supersonic Hyperloop transport system are well known. The system is still in the testing phase, as Musk's SpaceX company is currently experimenting with various transport pod designs, as well as planning to build a short eight kilometre test track in Texas during July of 2015. The latter will most likely be used to trial out a number of transport pods that SpaceX will be evaluating at Texas A&M University next week. 

This week, one of the contractors building the actual Hyperloop track, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, announced that it has filed permits for an eight kilometre long test track in King's Valley, California. According to The Verge, the track will be constructed in Quay Valley, an area of land which is planned to house more than 75 000 solar powered homes in the coming years. Hyperloop Transport Technologies has also added that it intends to survey land in the next couple of weeks, with principle construction to commence in mid-2016. 

While Musk's vision, first detailed in 2013, for a eco-efficient transport system capable of travelling at up to 1223 km/h is still several years from completion, the first few steps in its development have begun in earnest.