Science
$20 Trillion Tunnel Could Zip You From U.S. To U.K. In Just 54 Minutes
Plans for a futuristic tunnel connecting the US and the UK have been circulating; if commissioned, the projected cost of construction is $20,000,000,000,000.
Although Elon Musk has stated his intention to build planes across the globe in less than an hour and we have heard many tales about the world’s shortest flight, this recently suggested tunnel would fundamentally alter the aviation industry.
A direct journey from London to New York would currently take a little more than eight hours, but what if the whole time could be reduced to just 54 minutes?
Plans for a new transatlantic tunnel, which would function similarly to the channel tunnel between England and France but be 145 times longer and far more costly, are intended to address this issue.
According to plans, the tunnel would be over 3,400 miles long and cost about $19.8 trillion, which is a significant expenditure for even the wealthiest nations.
There is disagreement among current theories regarding the construction procedure regarding whether the tunnel should be buried beneath the ocean floor or if it should be suspended above the water.
Vacuum technology has the potential to significantly reduce the ordinarily arduous voyage by enabling trains to go through the tunnel at speeds exceeding 3,000 mph.
However, other people on social media have expressed their own worries about how fast this travel is going and whether it would be too much for the typical individual to handle, even on a “short” journey.
One comment in a post regarding the tunnel on the r/uknews subreddit explains that the trains “would go nearly 7 times the speed of sound,” continuing to reveal that “even in theory passengers would be subject to 1.5 G for the entire trip, half as acceleration, then half as deceleration. Some people would struggle with G-forces for that long.”
Given that passengers on typical commercial flights are only permitted to experience 1.3 Gs of force and only during certain extreme manoeuvres, it is reasonable to imagine that many would struggle with sustained G-force for nearly the whole journey.
Additionally, there is the very obvious financial problem, which is probably why neither the US government nor the UK government is currently submitting plans for the tunnel’s construction to begin.
It’s difficult to imagine how the tunnel would break even, let alone turn a profit, especially when you add the annual maintenance needed to keep it operational. To say that $20 trillion is a lot of money would be an understatement.
Some remain worried that this would then be placed on the lap of the consumer with extortionate ticket prices, as one commenter explains: “Perhaps more relevant than any technical issues, at the cost the price of a ticket would be sky high (ironically perhaps) to get any return in a reasonable timescale.”
For the time being, this magical tunnel may have to stay a pipe dream, but perhaps in the future, transportation links of this kind could be established, allowing you to get to and from New York or London for dinner.
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