Other than the Trans-Siberian, the legendary train that crosses two continents - Europe and Asia - covering over 9 thousand kilometres. The feat of the Great Mother Russia could pale in comparison to a project set up by Beijing: a railway that always connects two continents, but this time not bordering: Asia and America.
China is in fact considering the construction of a high-speed line between the People's Republic and the United States. The tracks would start from the northeast of the Asian country, continue in Siberia, pass through an underwater tunnel in the Pacific Ocean, then arriving in Alaska, Canada and on to Washington. The project was revealed by the Beijing Times and picked up by the Guardian and the South China Morning Post.
The railway would cross the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska thanks to a 200-kilometer underwater tunnel.
“We are already discussing it. Moscow itself has been thinking about it for several years,” assured Wang Mengshu, a railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
The project - called the "China-Russia-Canada-America" line - would include 13 kilometers of track. To cover them all without stops would take two days, with the train traveling at an average speed of 350 kilometers per hour.
However, the plan has attracted skepticism. No other Chinese railway expert has spoken out in favor of the project. And it's actually not clear whether Beijing has consulted Moscow and Washington. The Bering Strait tunnel alone would require unprecedented engineering efforts: it would be the longest underwater tunnel in the world, four times the length of the English Channel.
According to the China Daily newspaper, the technology for the tunnel would be "ready-made" and will be used to build a high-speed railway between the southeastern province of Fuijan and Taiwan. "The project will be financed and built by China - reports the newspaper - The final details are still missing".
