Overview
- American rail expert Scott Spencer told TASS the tunnel’s trade benefits would outweigh costs, estimating a 150–200 year operating life and comparing its scale to the Panama Canal and the ISS.
- Spencer reiterated prior estimates that throughput could exceed 400 million tons annually and said he hopes the idea is discussed at an upcoming meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin.
- Kirill Dmitriev has argued the link could be built in under eight years for no more than $8 billion, citing advances in tunneling technology.
- Russian analyst Alexander Vorotnikov said the project could bolster Russia’s technological sovereignty, spur domestic production for North America, and develop logistics hubs in the Far East, potentially using Boring Company methods.
- A separate expert interview in Russia highlighted alternative concepts such as vacuum-tube transit and warned that building the connecting approaches could drive costs beyond projections even if the undersea tunnel itself met targets.