The ordeal of long-distance travel could be over in a flash with Hyper Chariot, a 4,000 mph super shuttle that will whisk passengers between London and Edinburgh in a mere eight minutes.

Company co-founders Nick and Joanna Garzilli told Down to Business about the challenge of making two-hour trips from New York to Beijing a reality by 2040.

The big idea is to make a network of airless concrete tubes to get you from point A to point B at rapid speed.

Nick Garzilli said that almost all of the technology needed for this project already exists and that it, "just needs to be assembled."

Joanna added that while the project, "seems like a fantasy," the company hopes to build a 'Velocitator' by 2021. This will use the same technology as the Hyper Chariot - but it will run at a speed of 400mph along a track.

She added that while the project may be hard to imagine, it is "just the next step" in the evolution of transport technology. Joanna compares it to the advent of the motor car or the aeroplane.

Nick told Newstalk that he previously met tech visionary Elon Musk to discuss the project and that he hopes to "reconnect" with him as the project develops.