DELFT, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch tech startup and a construction company have unveiled a Hyperloop test facility, a 30-meter (100-foot) long white steel tube that will be used to help develop the futuristic high-speed transportation system.

The tube, located at Delft Technical University, is a first step toward developing the system in the Netherlands, a key European transportation transport hub.

Tim Houter, CEO of Hardt Global Mobility, said Thursday that the tube will be used to test safety and other elements of the system at low speeds before construction begins of a larger test tube for high speed testing.

The Hyperloop was first proposed in 2013 by SpaceX and Tesla Motors co-founder Elon Musk to transport "pods" of people through a tube at speeds of roughly 700 mph (1126 kph).