London Tube Expansion Shows How Cool Elon Musk's "Boring" Idea Is

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks about his “boring” tunnel idea, he’s in on the joke. Yes, he means that he wants to use a boring machine to excavate massive tunnels, but digging holes does sound a little, well, “boring,” compared to SpaceX. However, new photos from London’s Tube expansion show how the boring machines that Musk is looking into are actually pretty sweet.

Transport for London, the government agency responsible for the city’s transportation, shared a series of pictures on its Facebook page of some truly massive tunneling machines that were being used to dig new tunnels for the Famous London Underground.

“A major milestone in the construction of the Northern Line Extension was reached this week with the lowering of two giant tunnel boring machines 20 metres below ground in Battersea, ahead of tunnelling starting in March,” Transport for London wrote. Looking at the pictures of these massive tunnel boring machines getting put into place give you a sense of why Musk might be so enamored with them.

“The precision operation required a huge 750-tonne crane to lift the two tunnelling machines, Helen and Amy, in the shadow of London’s iconic Battersea Power Station,” Transport for London continued. The extension should be complete by 2020.

These boring machines get around. Helen has also dug tunnels in India, among other places.

Musk has talked about his boring company before, but now he seems pretty serious about it. He did just say that tunnels were a great alternative to flying cars, because flying cars suck.