VIDEO: Hyperloop teases Dubai's first passenger-ready link

Hyperloop One has released a short film that claims it previews the future long-distance alternative to a car, train or plane

The slick video, released yesterday, shows a businessman travelling from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in just 12 minutes.

Along the way, not only does it show what it's like to journey in the jet plane-fast tubes, but it explains how fully autonomous shuttle pods will efficiently transport you from the terminal to your on-demand tube.

When up and running, the Hyperloop is claimed to travel at speeds of more than 1220km/h, exceeding the 950km/h average cruising speed for large commercial jets.

The race is already on for the first country to have a Hyperloop up and running and it appears the United Arab Emirates might be in the lead.

Not only has the UAE invested at least $US50 million in the project, it’s commissioned a feasibility study to introduce the link from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.

Unfortunately for Dubai, according to a recent report from Forbes, billionaire Elon Musk -- who masterminded the Hyperloop concept -- vastly underestimated the cost of building the tubes themselves.

Originally, Musk claimed the transport link would cost $US11.5 million per-mile to build, but according to later, more accurate costings the 156km link between two cities will actually cost $US4.8 billion -- or $US52m per-mile.

Despite the rise in cost the oil-rich nation is believed to still be pushing ahead with plans to not only introduce a Hyperloop link from Dubai to Abu Dhabi but pursue a feasibility study for another link from Jebel Ali port to Dubai that would only handle cargo.

Next year is set to be a big year for the Hyperloop project as Hyperloop One, the company developing the technology, shows off the first full-size prototypes of the pods it will use.

Hyperloop One will host what it describes as "public tests" in California, using pods built by high school and university engineering teams.