Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway

Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway
'China-Russia-Canada-America line' would run for 13,000km across Siberia and pass under Bering Strait through 200km tunnel

China is considering plans to build a high-speed railway line to the US, the country's official media reported on Thursday.

The proposed line would begin in north-east China and run up through Siberia, pass through a tunnel underneath the Pacific Ocean then cut through Alaska and Canada to reach the continental US, according to a report in the state-run Beijing Times newspaper.

Crossing the Bering Strait in between Russia and Alaska would require about 200km (125 miles) of undersea tunnel, the paper said, citing Wang Mengshu, a railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

"Right now we're already in discussions. Russia has already been thinking about this for many years," Wang said.

The project – nicknamed the "China-Russia-Canada-America" line – would run for 13,000km, about 3,000km further than the Trans-Siberian Railway. The entire trip would take two days, with the train travelling at an average of 350km/h (220mph).

The reported plans leave ample room for skepticism. No other Chinese railway experts have come out in support of the proposed project. Whether the government has consulted Russia, the US or Canada is also unclear. The Bering Strait tunnel alone would require an unprecedented feat of engineering – it would be the world's longest undersea tunnel – four times the length of the Channel Tunnel.

According to the state-run China Daily, the tunnel technology is "already in place" and will be used to build a high-speed railway between the south-east province of Fujian and Taiwan. "The project will be funded and constructed by China," it said. "The details of this project are yet to be finalised."

The Beijing Times listed the China-US line as one of four international high-speed rail projects currently in the works. The first is a line that would run from London via Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Kiev and Moscow, where it would split into two routes, one of which would run to China through Kazakhstan and the other through eastern Siberia. The second line would begin in the far-western Chinese city of Urumqi and then run through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey to Germany. The third would begin in the south-western city of Kunming and end in Singapore. The routes are under various stages of planning and development, the paper said.

Wang was not immediately available for comment. A man who picked up the phone at his office said he was traveling and would not respond to interview requests."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/08/chinese-experts-discussions-high-speed-beijing-american-railway

I think that is utterly amazing, although would I want to be in a train under the Bering Strait?

I saw this earlier and posted it on GLP. Be an amazing feat if they went ahead with it. Suppose it all depends on how the political landscape plays out though.

Tesstacious wrote:I saw this earlier and posted it on GLP.  Be an amazing feat if they went ahead with it.  Suppose it all depends on how the political landscape plays out though.

I love train journeys, so if they went ahead with this I'd love it!

The Borders railway is being re-opened here up to Edinburgh and they have been at it for almost 2 years now. It’s only 25 miles.

Irn Bru wrote:The Borders railway is being re-opened here up to Edinburgh and they have been at it for almost 2 years now. It’s only 25 miles.

I hope they work faster than that!

I was being unfair. it's 30 miles Runs by about 300 yards from my house.

http://www.bordersrailway.co.uk/

I would love to see this happen, and I think the money it would generate would help overcome the political problems it might face.

Ben_Reilly wrote:I would love to see this happen, and I think the money it would generate would help overcome the political problems it might face.

I'd have a holiday travelling the length of it.

Irn Bru wrote:The Borders railway is being re-opened here up to Edinburgh and they have been at it for almost 2 years now. It’s only 25 miles.

To be fair the Chinese are pretty fast at massive construction projects- I wouldn't trust it not to collapse though   

Sassy wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:I would love to see this happen, and I think the money it would generate would help overcome the political problems it might face.

I'd have a holiday travelling the length of it.

That would be awesome, wouldn't it? The variety of stops along the way could have you checking out the Northern Lights one day and seeing the Forbidden City a few days later.

Through a tunnel over 100 miles long under the sea!!!

Hope there are no earth tremors or quakes around during that part of the journey

Irn Bru wrote:Through a tunnel over 100 miles long under the sea!!!

Hope there are no earth tremors or quakes around during that part of the journey

That would be scary, but I'd think between whatever feats of engineering they come up with and the fact that at that speed, you'd probably only be in the tunnel for half an hour, I'd still risk it

Ben_Reilly wrote:I would love to see this happen, and I think the money it would generate would help overcome the political problems it might face.

Can you imagine the US Congress going along with this?

Original Quill wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:I would love to see this happen, and I think the money it would generate would help overcome the political problems it might face.

Can you imagine the US Congress going along with this?

I can't imagine the U.S. House of Representatives going along with it!  ::roglol:: 

Unless someone shoves a fistful of campaign donations under their faces, that is

 

DO Y'ALL think that someone should tell them that there's a couple of mountain ranges, a big pond (the Pacific..) and a slight trough (the Bering Strait), and a couple or three 'third-party' countries between Points A and B ?

I wonder if the Chinese have discussed this yet with their northern neighbours in Russia, as at least some of the railway will inevitably pass over Russian territories..

(THERE are already Chinese-built freight trains carrying coal and iron ore down here in Oz).