You are confusing the vactrain (hyperloop) project with the underground tunnel car-on-sled project. They are separate things.
my two cents on this is that even if the hyperloop doesn't pan out all, the tunnel project could still be a big deal. If you stick regular state of the art high speed trains in musk's hypothetical NY-DC tunnel, that would be worthwhile.
The Boring Company has nothing to do with Vactrains
The first two paragraphs of the article ties them together. I'll admit you may be right, but the confusion here is driven by the article.