A concept to construct a transatlantic tunnel connecting London and New York would cost over £15 trillion to build and could allow for travel from one city to the other in under an hour.
According to the Express, the success of the Channel Tunnel – which opened in May 1994 – has increased belief that the ambitious project could be an achievable one.
Considering the mere 23.5-mile stretch of tunnel under the English Channel connecting England and France required six years of gruelling construction, one can only imagine how long the building of an underwater passage across an entire ocean would take.
There have been various suggestions over the years on how to make a transatlantic tunnel feasible, ranging from embedding it completely beneath the ocean floor to laying a conduit above it, or even a hybrid of both methods.
An alternative proposition involves a floating tunnel, submerged some 49 metres underwater, assembled from countless pre-fabricated segments and secured by cables.
Jet propulsion has also been suggested as a method to propel the train carriages at high speed, although this approach would necessitate an 18-minute deceleration period after reaching top speed to ensure safe arrival on the other side.
Despite the colossal costs and logistical challenges linked with the concept, no serious proposals are currently under consideration by governments on either side of the Atlantic.
Elsewhere, it was reported earlier this year that a new underwater tunnel could be given the go ahead to link Spain and Morocco.
The Moroccan National Company for Strait Studies (SNED) announced in May that work is underway to explore whether the project is possible, from a financial and logistical perspective. If it is viewed is feasible, work could get underway before the end of the decade.
If the tunnel is to be built, it would include a 17 mile stretch underwater that would reach down to depths of 475m, connecting Punta Paloma, west of Tarifa, with Malabata in northern Morocco, just east of Tangier.
Should that proposed project prove to be successful, there is certainly reason to believe that we could experience the ability to pop over to Manhattan for the afternoon within our lifetime.
