Elon Musk's tunnel-building company, The Boring Company (TBC), is now hiring personnel for the construction of Nashville, Tenn.'s Music City Loop.
Billed as a cutting-edge, zero-emission underground transit system connecting downtown Nashville and Music City Center to Nashville International Airport (BNA), the Music City Loop will take about 9 minutes to travel 9.5 mi. from BNA to downtown Nashville.
Funded and operated by TBC, it will transport passengers in a fleet of dedicated Tesla vehicles (initially Model Ys and Model Xs) through an underground tunnel network to their destinations with no intermediate stops.
Trained drivers, referred to as Loop drivers, will operate the vehicles to enhance the passenger experience and provide an additional layer of safety, ensuring a personalized and secure ride, the company noted on its website.
The system is being developed with the goal of alleviating traffic congestion in the area.
"I'm really excited about this project," said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in speaking to WKRN-TV in Nashville.
In the city's downtown, the first dig for the tunnel was made in mid-August. As of Sept. 1, a large hole was visible at the site, illustrating the project's progress so far.
TBC said discussions with state and local officials about the tunnel system began in March 2024, more than a year before the first public announcement was made.
The company is working with stakeholders on the final alignment of the Music City Loop, in addition to performing geotechnical borings and starting utility coordination.
"[TBC has] a great desire to follow the process as laid out by the state and to work with our [state] agencies," Lee said.
Site preparation is planned to take place through September, and actual tunneling is expected to begin within the last three months of the year. When it does start, one boring machine will be launched from the site near the Tennessee State Capitol. Eventually, the work will scale up to include at least six of the machines. TBC also plans to build at least three more tunnel launch sites as the work progresses.
The first operational segment of the Music City Loop is expected to open in the spring of 2027.
Nashville residents are already looking forward to the innovative way the Music City Loop will transform transportation in the area.
"There's a whole untapped potential underneath our feet," Nashville resident Nathaniel Lehrer told WKRN-TV. "Anything that can save time when picking up family or friends or you need to catch a flight [is] an awesome option to have."
Two Separate Tunnels Make Up Music City Loop
The transit system will be set up as alignments of two separate tunnels running inbound and outbound from Nashville's airport. Each one will be dug approximately 30 ft. underground to avoid contact with utility lines.
TBC said its tunnel boring machines operate on a redundant navigation system with an accuracy of approximately 2 in. The digging machines and the support vehicles to be used on the project are zero-emission and all-electric.
The construction processes and tunnel designs used by TBC generate minimal vibration and noise, according to the company, which claimed that pedestrians would feel less shaking from the tunnel than from a person walking next to them on the sidewalk.
In areas where the tunnel may run under private property, permission from the property owner is required. As the planning process continues, interested property owners will be asked to enter either a standard easement agreement with TBC, which would allow only a tunnel to be built under the land; or a station agreement, which would allow for a tunnel and a station.
Waste generated during the tunnel's construction will be disposed of according to state regulations.
No Taxpayer Dollars Needed for Tunnel Construction
TBC is fully-funding the construction and operation of the Music City Loop project, the company announced.
Passengers will pay a fare to use the transportation system and even though fare prices have yet to be determined, TBC said that the costs to ride are likely to be lower than other transportation options.
Lee said the project is the fast lane to the city's future.
"We've been trying to find ways — Metro Nashville has in particular — to develop transit in the city for a long time," he said. "It costs billions and billions of dollars to build out transit systems. We now have an opportunity to have a transit system that costs the taxpayers nothing."
The Music City Loop project also means that many new jobs are on their way to Nashville. TBC is currently searching for engineers, electricians, mechanics and operation coordinators, among other positions.
The Texas-based company said construction updates will be posted periodically in blog posts to its website and on X beginning around Oct. 1.
