China currently has the most extensive and impressive high-speed rail network in the world and they show no signs of slowing down. As their network reaches far corners of their country, Beijing can keep an eye on what is far, far away. China wants to build a high-speed, 13,000-kilometer (8,078-mile) train from mainland China via Alaska via Bering Strait under the sea to eastern Russia, crossing its rocky peaks to build Canada’s Yukon and British Columbia and the United Kingdom.
Once built, they can further expand their international bullet train to every corner of the United States. What is the price of such a foreign offer? A great $200 billion, a price tag is so high, even the likes of Jeff Bezos couldn’t reach it. The plans arose in 2014, when a Beijing Times report appeared in multiple newsletters outlining plans to build an 8,000-mile super train to China. It will be called the “China-Russia-Canada-America” line (interesting, we know) and will extend across four countries, connecting them together for their trade, tourism and economic progress.
Expanding across the Bearing Strait, this will require a submerged water tunnel four times larger than the Channel Tunnel and more advanced technology for booting. At the time, engineers from China claimed to be already in talks to start the line with Russia, which they were extremely confident would be possible with current technology. And no matter how far the proposal goes, it may be quite possible.
In 2018, China approved the world’s first underwater bullet train, which will extend nationally from the port city of Ningbo, near Shanghai, to Zhoushan, an archipelago on the east coast. The new route, which will extend 77 km (47.6 miles) of the almost completed new railway, will include a water level of 16.2 km.
It will be a maglev train, driven at high speed over a magnetic track, so it will run at high speeds, and work is underway for the ambitious project. Although this tunnel is significantly smaller than the Channel Tunnel, the bullet train brings new challenges to the construction of the connection. Although little is known about the progress of the China-Russia-Canada-America line, some feel that the Ningbo- Zhoushan line could be a test run for many large projects.
