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Comment by ethagknight | Hacker News Reader

Rail is phenomenally inefficient crossing oceans compared to air freight

Hmm, if we ever built the Alaska-Siberia overland railway connection (bridges + tunnels) it would become a possibility to make efficient from what is now an impossibility.

It’s doable. Tunnels and bridges necessary would not be beyond what we have built elsewhere with current technology.

The weather may be challenging in Winter though.

How is building a rail system for transporting freight to and from the U.S. that runs through Russian territory a good/feasible idea?

Even if Russia agreed, Putin or whatever strong-man dictator they have next could suddenly decide it was a bad idea, and to block U.S. freight. Then we have no rail transport AND a grounded air fleet that would take time to get operational at the same output it is today.

I didn't mean tomorrow ("if we ever.."), or the day after. I meant one day when the US and Russia get along as well as China and the US do. It's not like we'll be at not-war war long into the future. Building the bridges and tunnels would take probably a decade or two, the way we build things. But if we did, then much of China's trade that goes over airfreight could come over via rail... one day.

When goods stop crossing borders, soldiers start crossing borders. The easiest way NOT to go to war is to have open trade.

Best way to avoid war is to have the border be open ocean.

Having a railroad bridge with russia is inviting problems

That's a nice little platitude but it's not supported by the historical record.

Eh, the USA’s history seems to confirm it. I’m not really sure about others, but I’d be surprised if countries that are dependent upon one another were at war with one another.

Where is Mr Wilford when you need him?

Sorry couldn’t resist the Snowpiercer Reference - where they connect alaska to russia with a long ass bridge.

To be fair it does look like a “technically possible but ruinously expensive” kinda project.

If there was actually demand for faster high-volume shipping between East Asia and North America then logistics companies would just buy faster ships. The technology for that already exists and is far cheaper than building a railroad tunnel across the Bering Strait. Shipyards are capable of building freighters with more hydrodynamic hulls and powerful turbine engines. So far no one is really asking for those, which indicates the market doesn't exist.

it exists in the form of air freight, which is stupidly more expensive, but also stupidly faster. so there is a market, just apparently not one in-between.

That’s several thousand miles of additional journey on your way to Shenzen or wherever? Massive amounts of track, tunnel and bridge that has to be maintained in extreme conditions and across multiple nations at odds with each other?

Or just put it on a boat?

I don't think it would be as problematic as you suggest. The Trans-Siberian railway already operates at similar distances. Also China is building their belt-and-road network. We could get goods from China, Japan, Korea and Russia all on this rail system.

The one sticky point might be gauge. We'd want something all agree upon. We'd want to avoid variable track gauge bogies.

Clearly, we need more airship transport.

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