Getty Images Elon Musk

Sydney traffic is terrible and the city can’t expand westwards because of the mountain range.

NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham wants to fix it and asked Elon Musk how much a tunnel through the Blue Mountains would cost.

Musk quoted a cost of $1 billion.

Buckingham, and even Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes, think that’s a bargain.

Tweet and Elon Musk listens.

The billionaire entrepreneur and founder of Tesla, SpaceX and the Boring Company, volunteered that he could build a $1 billion high speed tunnel to help ease Sydney traffic after NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham asked how much such a plan would cost.

Buckingham tweeted Musk: “I’m a lawmaker in Sydney, which is choking with traffic. How much to build a 50km tunnel through the Blue Mountains and open up the west of our State?”

“About $15M/km for a two way high speed transit, so probably around $750M plus maybe $50M/station,” Musk replied.

About $15M/km for a two way high speed transit, so probably around $750M plus maybe $50M/station — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2019

“Thanks mate. Sounds like a bargain. Could be a game changer to go under the Blue Mountains with a modern link between Sydney and the west. I’ll raise it with the Premier @GladysB other colleagues, the community, and get back to you,” Buckingham said, adding he would focus on the plan as he seeks re-election.

Also tagged in the conversation was Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes who agreed the price was a great deal.

@elonmusk hope you’re well mate. Thanks for making my phone go bananas ???? wondered what was up. Sounds like a bargain for Sydney. PS Tesla phone support fabulous tonight for tyre pressure issue ???????? Good luck on the Deagon crew launch in Feb! ???????????? https://t.co/8cH2yhf604 — Mike Cannon-Brookes ????????‍???????? (@mcannonbrookes) January 16, 2019

Here’s a look at the proposed tunnel which would start at Penrith and end at Lithgow.

Jeremy Buckingham/ Twitter

Based on the Boring Company’s first tunnel in LA, the high-speed subterranean network is capable of transporting vehicles and pedestrians at 240km/hr.

The tunnelling process is much slower, however.

“Aspirationally, we should be slightly faster than a snail,” Musk said previously about the tunneling process.

He said that most tunneling equipment moves 14 times slower than a snail, and hopes to match to snail-speed with The Boring Company.

In the past, Musk has also suggested fares for such a transit in the US could cost as little as $US1 ($AU1.40) per person. Though the actual cost will likely depend on a number of factors, and require input from multiple local and state groups.

Now, nobody believed Musk when he connected over Twitter with Cannon-Brookes on a promise to build a new renewable battery for South Australia. So let’s not be entirely cynical, but $15 million per kilometre is a very specific number that almost reads like a cost commitment. In a country that has an horrendous track record of cost blow-outs on infrastructure projects, and when we’re talking about putting a massive tunnel under a UNESCO World-Heritage-listed National Park inhabited by some very eco-conscious residents, it’s worth recalling that there is a specific local phrase for promised infrastructure projects: the bullshit express.

All aboard.

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