Imagine if you are aboard a stylish train in London, enjoying a cup of coffee and binge-watching a few episodes of your favorite web series. Before you realize it, you’re in New York—just 60 minutes
Imagine if you are aboard a stylish train in London, enjoying a cup of coffee and binge-watching a few episodes of your favorite web series. Before you realize it, you’re in New York—just 60 minutes later. Well, well, well, hold your horses! It might seem like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? However, the concept of building a tunnel beneath the Atlantic Ocean is once again in news headlines. The cost is so staggering—around $20 trillion—that the project could take centuries to finish. This idea teeters between a visionary breakthrough and an unattainable fantasy.
The bold concept of a transatlantic tunnel linking New York City and London has been revived, following Elon Musk’s recent claim that his company, The Boring Company, could build it for $20 billion.
Proposed designs for the transatlantic tunnel often feature a passage beneath the Atlantic Ocean, enabling high-speed rail travel between the United States and the United Kingdom. If brought to life, it could revolutionize global travel and logistics. Currently, a flight from London to New York takes about eight hours, but this tunnel could potentially cut that travel time to under an hour, marking a groundbreaking advancement in human transportation.
According to the Times of India report, the concept for the original hyperloop system was first envisioned by Swiss Professor Marcel Juffer in the 1970s. In 1992, Swissmetro SA was founded to develop the project, but it was liquidated in 2009. Interest in the technology surged again in 2012 with the release of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Alpha paper.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company, is known for his ambitious and groundbreaking proposals. In recent discussions, Musk stated that his tunneling venture, The Boring Company, could complete the transatlantic tunnel for just $20 billion—a fraction of earlier estimates. His confidence in the project is fueled by advancements in tunneling technology and the success of his innovative Hyperloop concept, which could transform long-distance travel.
As per the report, Musk claims that significant cost reduction would be possible through innovative tunneling methods, automation, and scalability. The Boring Company has already shown its capability to build tunnels more efficiently and at lower costs in smaller projects, like the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop. However, the scale of a transatlantic tunnel presents unique challenges that go far beyond the scope of previous projects.
At the heart of Musk’s proposal is the incorporation of Hyperloop technology, a concept he unveiled in 2013. Hyperloop consists of pressurized pods traveling through vacuum-sealed tunnels, removing air resistance and allowing for speeds much higher than traditional trains. In theory, Hyperloop pods could reach speeds of over 3,000 miles per hour (4,800 kilometers per hour), potentially reducing the travel time between London and New York to just one hour.
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