High Speed Rail linking Russia and the U.S.?

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It could happen! Would Amtrak help with this? Seems like a neat idea. This would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, however.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/russia-unveils-plans-for-high-speed-railway-and-superhighway-to-connect-europe-and-america-10132564.html
It could. But it won't.

Russia unveils new plans like this all the time.

They've been revealing new plans to replace their Soyuz spacecraft for decades and still go back to the same basic thing.

Lots of talk and hype, but ain't happening.
 
It could be a multinational effort, with the U.S, European Union, Russia, and even China contributing.
 
Only thing is, I don't see how Amtrak would fit in, especially since it's going to cost tens of billions of dollars just to bring the entire NEC to high speed rail specifications...
 
Well it's only a little more than 51 miles from Russia past the Diomedes to Alaska by my old stompin' grounds, Tin City. Been there in the Winter. I'd do it by tunnel. Why? Been there in the Winter.
 
This scheme resurfaces every few years in varying guises. Some all rail, some rail & road, some have pipelines added. If and only if the areas on both sides of the strait would built up it might happen. The crossing of the strait itself is the easy part. It is getting there from civilization on either side is the hard part.
 
There is not enough potential traffic -- passenger or freight -- between Russia and USA (Alaska) to justify building a rail line. Countries outside the USA have been adding high speed rail primarily in locations where traffic increases can not be reasonably handled by air services or roadways.
 
Well if they connect China to the lower 48 I could see it as a freight line. And a busy one at that as much stuff comes from china. That is if rail is faster then a boat. But to do that one must tunnel past two mountain ranges. And hundreds of mile of the Russian frontier
 
Well if they connect China to the lower 48 I could see it as a freight line. And a busy one at that as much stuff comes from china. That is if rail is faster then a boat. But to do that one must tunnel past two mountain ranges. And hundreds of mile of the Russian frontier
meaning it must be less than two WEEKS travel time.
 
They've been revealing new plans to replace their Soyuz spacecraft for decades and still go back to the same basic thing. Lots of talk and hype, but ain't happening.
Hard to criticize the Russia over Soyuz while our own manned space program depends on theirs to actually reach space.

It could be a multinational effort, with the U.S, European Union, Russia, and even China contributing.
You mean like the Kyoto Protocol? These days if it doesn't involve extrajudicial trade then it's usually a nonstarter for intercontinental agreements.

I think the Russian economy is tanking due to the sanctions imposed on them for their fighting in Ukraine.
Partially due to sanctions but also due to major swings in the price of crude, the weakness of the RUB, and the strength of the USD. It's not just the Russian and Ukrainian economies which are being impacted. The fundamental concept of a representative government is being swept away as the East and West resume their cold war proxy battles.
 
Last time this was proposed, it was to be a joint Russia/China thing. China might have even been willing to foot the bill for reaching the closest North American railhead and connecting it to Canada. They at least seem to have some experience building rail lines over permafrost.

(Edit, since pasting text is disabled on AU:)

In 2014 China did indeed float a proposal to connect its rail network to North America via Russia, Bering Strait, Alaska and Canada. Apparently they were willing to foot the bill entirely on their own.

Source: Wikipedia "Bering Strait crossing"

---PCJ
 
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Well if they connect China to the lower 48 I could see it as a freight line. And a busy one at that as much stuff comes from china. That is if rail is faster then a boat. But to do that one must tunnel past two mountain ranges. And hundreds of mile of the Russian frontier
meaning it must be less than two WEEKS travel time.
Speed not likely to matter. Ask any railroad that parallels a navigtable waterway. The majority of the freight goes to the boat because it is cheaper. There is no perceivable traffic volume either passenger or freight on this line for the next century or so.
 
I had to laugh at this passage from the article:

Alaska is already connected to the United States by superhighway through Canada, along the Alaska Highway –
Their definition of "superhighway" must be a little different from ours.
 
Assuming political situation is right in the near future is this possible with current technology? Linking Alaska and Russia? Bering Strait is pretty rough and there is a fault line there so tunnel is a no go.
 
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Assuming political situation is right in the near future is this possible with current technology? Linking Alaska and Russia? Bering Strait is pretty rough and there is a fault line there so tunnel is a no go.
Actually, the fault line is a few hundred miles west of the strait (it's actually west of Kamchatka). The strait itself is geologically not significant when you get right down to it (there's no continental break there, no continental shelf or deep trench or anything like that)...the best comparison would be the English Channel or the southern parts of the North Sea.

A handy, rough map of the boundary:

http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/earth_news/images/2008/04/24/picture_9.png
 
I had to laugh at this passage from the article:

Alaska is already connected to the United States by superhighway through Canada, along the Alaska Highway –
Their definition of "superhighway" must be a little different from ours.
Yeah, just like India is connected to China by National Highways with fancy numbers. :)
 
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Assuming political situation is right in the near future is this possible with current technology? Linking Alaska and Russia? Bering Strait is pretty rough and there is a fault line there so tunnel is a no go.
Seikan tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaio is through much worse geology. For the Siberia to Alaska railroad, the tunnel is probably the easiest part.
 
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