If it's maglev but it's running in a near vacuum rather than a hard vacuum I personally think we could still call it Hyperloop even though it wouldn't be exactly like Elon Musk's proposal. I.e. it's the "near vacuum" part rather than the air caster part that's significant.

Now if someone successfully builds a maglev in a hard vacuum tube, then that would definitely not be a Hyperloop, it would just be a classic vactrain. On the other hand, I don't think Musk would be the least bit disappointed if somebody was able to actually build an operational vactrain.

I'll bet it turns out to be a maglev without the vacuum tube. Either that or plain old high-speed rail like TGV or Shinkansen. 50 miles is not nearly enough to make it worth accelerating past 200 MPH or so.

Yes, but it would be even more interesting as a closed loop from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to Al Ain to Abu Dhabi. That would be the ultimate transit system for the country.

I went to the Expo in Milan in 2015. What a waste of time and money.

I'm sure they'd like to host prestige events like the Olympics or the World Cup.

Ah yes, the spirit of oil money and slave labor, truly inspiring stuff.