Transatlantic speed dream: Musk eyes New York-London journey

Elon Musk wrote on the platform X that The Boring Company, his infrastructure and tunnel construction company, could potentially build a transatlantic tunnel. This tunnel would connect New York and London, reducing travel time between the continents to one hour.

Elon Musk responded to a post by the Daily Loud, which reported that experts estimate the construction of an intercontinental tunnel would cost 20 trillion dollars. The owner of X wrote: "The Boring Company could do it for 1000X less money." Although it seems improbable, the development of vacuum tube technology has brought the concept of a transatlantic tunnel closer to reality.

Similar principles are used in the Eurostar infrastructure, which already connects France and the United Kingdom. The tunnel, constructed under the English Channel in six years, runs from Folkestone in Kent, England, to Coquelles in France. Here lies the main issue with the ambitious plan of the American billionaire—assuming a similar construction pace, the transatlantic tunnel would be completed in 782 years.

Combined with the existing magnetic train technology in China, vacuum tube technology is also being employed by Chinese engineers and scientists from Southeast University, who are currently working on the fastest ground transportation in the world. The research is advanced, and the new trains are expected to travel at speeds of 621 miles per hour. However, they will travel on the surface, not under the ocean floor. The Hyperloop in California, a high-speed transport project proposed and abandoned by Elon Musk, was expected to operate on similar principles.

Source: timeout.com, thecooldown.com