The Transatlantic Tunnel would cost an estimated $19.8 million to build but Elon Musk has other ideas
Proposals have been put forward for a Transatlantic Tunnel linking New York and London costing a staggering $20 trillion, but Elon Musk thinks he has a better idea.
Why take an eight-hour flight when you can take a 54-minute train to get you from the UK’s capital city to the most populous city in the United States?
The idea of a 3,400-mile Transatlantic Tunnel being built under the ocean may make you feel slightly queasy but it’s also very appealing – even if it would cost an estimated $19.8 trillion – but Elon Musk has something to say about it.
The idea
While no company has officially come forward with a laid out plan for the tunnel connecting The Big Apple and The Big Smoke, the possibility of it has been spoken about widely online.
The tunnel would stretch across 3,400 miles and reduce the time to get between the two cities to under an hour. However, it’s expected to take decades to complete.
Oh, and the expected cost would be immense – estimates coming in at $19.8 trillion.
Although, potentially not if Musk has anything to do with it.
Elon Musk’s alternative suggestion
Well, not Musk specifically but another company who he’s suggested may be up for the job
The Tesla CEO took to Twitter on December 10 to respond to a report about the proposed tunnel.
He wrote: “The @boringcompany could do it for 1000X less money.”
But what is The Boring Company and what’s it got to do with tunnel plans?
The Boring Company
According to its website, The Boring Company ‘constructs safe, fast-to-dig, and low-cost transportation, utility, and freight tunnels’ – so it clearly knows a thing or two on the topic and it already has several tunnels under it’s belt as well.
It’s projects include the LVCC Loop, Resorts World Connector, Vegas Loop, R&D Tunnel and Hyperloop with several already having been successfully constructed.
One successful construction is the LVCC Loop, The Boring Company detailing: “The LVCC Loop system – a three-station transportation system consisting of 1.7 miles of tunnel – was built in approximately one year (using the now-legacy Godot Tunnel Boring Machine).”
The project reportedly cost around $47 million for the ‘two tunnels and three stations’ and construction even managed to avoid any road closures or ‘attendee disturbances’.
“LVCC Loop connects the LVCC New Exhibit Hall with the existing campus (North/Central/SouthHalls), and reduces a 45 minute cross-campus walk time to approximately two minutes,” it adds.
1.7 miles of tunnel versus 3,400 miles from London to New York – potato, potato. So, how about it The Boring Company?
