Transport Canada is officially funding a study of the hyperloop train: an electric tunnel that will be able to take passengers from Toronto to Montreal in just 45 minutes.

The government agency has announced that it's looking for researchers to look into the new transportation method, which is still in prototype mode.

Transport Canada released a call out for consultants who can gauge the safety of hyperloop technology, as well as its cost-effectiveness in comparison to high-speed rail.

The Elon Musk-introduced tech, which originally came via American company Virgin Hyperloop One, has been featured in talks to arrive here since 2016, when the company first launched its Hyperloop One Global Challenge.

Multiple hyperloop startups have sprung up worldwide since then, including the Toronto-based TransPod, which has developed its own hyperloop prototype that would see a network of tubes containing pods travelling at speeds greater than 1,000 km/hour.

Hyperloop technology has been debated widely by transportation experts, some who see the tube as more of a novel idea than a practical way of getting around. There are no hyperloop systems currently operating anywhere in the world.

According to the TransPod website, a one-way trip on their hyperloop from Toronto to Monreal would cost $80, if booked for a same-day trip.