Is a Transatlantic Tunnel Possible? Exploring the Future of Undersea Travel

Imagine hopping on a train in New York and arriving in London just 54 minutes later, thanks to a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean. Sounds amazing, right? Some have even proposed this idea recently. But, can we really make it happen, or is it just fantasy?

The short answer is no, not with today’s technology.

To cover that distance in 54 minutes, trains would need to travel at an incredible speed of 5,000 mph (8,000 km/h). That’s far beyond what we can do now. With current train speeds, the journey would take about 15 hours, slower than an 8-hour flight.

Right now, the longest underwater tunnel is the Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, which is 23.5 miles (37.9 kilometers) long. Connecting England and France, it took six years and 13,000 workers to build back in the 1990s. Adjusting for inflation, the cost was about $16 billion today.

Building a trans-Atlantic tunnel, like the dream route from New York to London, would be a much bigger challenge—around 3,400 miles (5,500 km) long. Tunnel expert Bill Grose points out several hurdles, starting with logistics. “You’d need solutions for ventilation, power supply, and transportation for workers. These machines would have to be fully autonomous—something we haven’t developed yet,” he explained.

The power needs are staggering. A typical tunnel boring machine for a smaller project needs as much energy as a small town. For example, a tunnel between Gambia and Brazil, which is about 1,600 miles (2,575 km), could take around 500 years to dig with our current machines. It highlights how slow and labor-intensive tunnel boring is today.

Water pressure is another critical issue. The deepest part of the Atlantic is over 27,000 feet (8,000 m), which means facing an overwhelming pressure of 800 bars. That’s a far cry from the 15 bars faced by the most advanced machines today. Grose warns, “If something went wrong, the consequences could be catastrophic.”

Funding these massive undertakings is daunting too. As Steve Sigmund from the Gateway Development Commission noted, “Construction, materials, labor—all these factors add up.” Finding the money for such a risky project seems nearly impossible right now.

In summary, while the idea of a trans-Atlantic train tunnel is captivating, the current reality shows that we still have a long way to go. The technology, funding, and planning needed are enormous. Until then, it remains a dream.

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