Opinions on a Hypersonic Tunnel based Transportation System

[boneh3ad]

Ground effects at 220 mph and ground effects at 3800 mph are entirely different animals. In fact, to my knowledge, no work has been done on ground effects at that speed because it simply isn't practical. It is a disaster waiting to happen. One tiny anomaly in the flight and the whole thing goes up in a fireball. There just is no time for corrections at that speed.

 

[Travis_King]

I'm sorry, but do you know how expensive it would be to:
1) Build a tunnel across the Atlantic Ocean that could support itself and the stuff inside it
2) make the train chamber a near VACUUM for its entire length?

First off, the pumps required to maintain vacuum alone would probably use more electricity per year than New York State. Not to mention the maintenance required (this means constant trips to the middle of the ocean for repairs on pumps and generators and associated safety controls). Then you have to worry about maintaining the line. Out there in the middle of the Ocean.

Then, you've got the cost of running the stretch of mag-lev and all the maintenance and repair that goes into that...And you've got to have a method of retrieving passengers if the train malfunctions while way out there along the line (I guess you could put rest stops/platforms out there every so often, but still).

This just does not seem like a more cost effective route than planes...At least not for a while.