There’s still a chance Texans could be some of the first people in the world to whisk along in tubes at 700 mph.

Hyperloop Texas, a joint proposal of engineering firm AECOM and public agencies in the state, is one of 10 winners of the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, a competition to find the best routes for the system.

Hyperloop, the brainchild of Tesla founder Elon Musk, envisions vacuum tubes and travel pods making interstate travel at faster-than-flight speeds. In their proposal, AECOM estimated the trip from Houston to San Antonio could be made in 21 minutes. Getting to Austin would take another eight minutes. Houston-to-Dallas, not including the time for layovers, would take 48 minutes.

A freight component would use the Hyperloop system to ferry goods from Laredo to the Port of Houston.

Along with the Texas Triangle team, Hyperloop teams in Colorado, Florida and the Rust Belt were chosen in the United States. The other winning proposals Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom and India.

H1GC Winning Routes by dugbegley on Scribd

In announcing the winners, HyperLoop One – the company promoting the idea – also said it would work with the Colorado Department of Transportation to develop a feasibility study of the Cheyenne-Denver-Pueblo proposal.

“We're encouraged by these compelling projects that aim to increase passenger mobility, connect urban centers, reimagine trade and cargo and enhance quality of life,” said Josh Giegel, co-founder and president of engineering of Hyperloop One.

Winning doesn’t mean anything will get built, but Hyperloop One said in a release it “will commit meaningful business and engineering resources and work closely with each of the winning teams/routes to determine their commercial viability.”

Many proposals over the years have said there is huge benefit to linking Texas’ major cities by something other than freeways and airports, but none so far have generated the public will or private investment to operate.

Backers of a planned Houston-to-Dallas high speed rail system said earlier this year that they hope to have federal approvals and financing to begin construction of their Japanese-styled line next year. The company, Texas Central Partners, already has started buying some property along the possible route, which has been controversial in rural areas between the two metro areas.