Yes. I think it's a trojan horse.

Elon Musk doesn't give a fuck about maglev. He isn't interested in trains. And he's running all this under the aegis of SpaceX.

Hyperloop is designed to run right at the speed of sound. Its test prototypes are large enough to provide useful fluid dynamics data. The track will give them straight line data and it will give them curve data.

That they have transitions in the track gives them the ability to switch, which is important for egress. They can scale up and test all aspects of magnetic launch systems, which are pretty much de rigeur for large-scale launch systems but which haven't really been tested at any scale.

Compare Hyperloop (as it is proposed right now) and StarTram and tell me Elon Musk wants to get into the subway business.