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A new $20 trillion hyperloop tunnel was proposed, connecting the UK to the US. If the project were to go ahead, London to New York would be done in just 54 minutes.
Hyperloops are essentially tunnels with the specific purpose of speeding up travel. This new “Transatlantic Tunnel” would be far more expansive than similar projects, like the Channel Tunnel in the UK. It would also cost around $19.8 trillion.
The tunnel has had multiple proposals, with different ways of managing the colossal tunnel’s location. According to The Mirror, these include putting it under the seabed, a floating tunnel, or middle grounds like placing it on top of the seabed.
While the tunnel is a complicated nightmare on its own, the vessels that would travel in the tunnel are another story. It has been proposed that vacuum tubes be used, which would shoot travelers across the tunnel at more than 3000 miles per hour.
Hundreds of years before hyperloop is even a thing
Of course, this is theoretical. Tunnel and tube technology might be seeing advancements in places like India, but it’s still years away. Estimates, if built in the same methods as the Channel Tunnel, would put it at 782 years away.
As mentioned, in India, the country recently completed its first test track for a hyperloop. Built by IIT-Madras, the track is at 400 meters (0.2 miles). It’ll be expanded to seven miles and eventually is planned to hit 62 miles.
The US has had a hyperloop before. Hyperloop One was shut down in December 2023, before it could even launch. It had test tunnels and ran a couple of passengers in 2020. However, it could never materialize.
Elon Musk weighs in on hyperloop proposal
This said, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and X owner has built “Loop”. Part of The Boring Company, it’s a Las Vegas-based tunnel that uses Tesla Model 3s to transport passengers to a number of stations. In a 2023 video, a user on X, formerly Twitter, said that the 200-meter tunnel is “dumber than I could have imagined” while sharing a video of the process.
lol I can’t believe this is actually what Tesla’s Hyperloop looks like. It’s dumber than I could have imagined: pic.twitter.com/3PEnGWE1YN
— Politics & Education (@PoliticsAndEd) January 7, 2023
Musk has weighed in on the proposed hyperloop and said that it could be done for $20 billion dollars. X users have posted to Community Notes – X’s system for fact-checking – with pushback, claiming that the 1000 times less budget doesn’t take into account “other expenses like engineers and infrastructure”.
Musk was also corrected with the cost per kilometer (0.6 miles) of track, which is €25 million per KM on average.
According to a report five months ago on the proposals, no one has seriously considered the project.
