For several years now I have been pushing out various ideas for extension of various rail networks, mostly Liverpool's Merseyrail, all of which have managed to attract zero attention, in the local press, unlike some others. Despite there being a lot of similarity in the plans and mine coming out first. The latest plans share 99% commonality with my own, as we both shamelessly use Google Maps to draw on. I did learn something from this one, and that is that you can customise the place name markers on Google Maps. This may have been one flaw, but another made clear to me is that I must use a Beatles reference in the name. So for this on I have picked the Long and Winding Road.
So here it is the ultimate extension to Merseyrail to Thurso and not just Thurso but Thurso, Quebec via Thurso, Scotland which already has the most northerly railway station on the island of Great Britain. Thurso, Quebec also has a railway station which is on the main Ottawa to Montreal line.
So here is the first map of Merseyrail Transatlantic.
The first part of the route would be too extended the Northern Line beyond Kirkby and via Wigan to Thurso on the north east type of Scotland. You might think that America being to the west then the west would be the way to go, but unfortunately not, despite the invite of a station in Dublin, the 3000+ km from the west of Ireland to Newfoundland is a bit too long and the waters a bit too deep. Then there is the volcanically active mid-Atlantic Ridge, which stretches on average 2.5 cm a year. So it to the north and a bit of island hopping. So first it is Thurso, Kirkwall on Orkney at a modest
54km, just a warm-up, the tunnel would unlikely to surface but have a vent shaft combined with the station. Then on further north to Lerwick, Shetland at 166 km it is getting a bit longer.
At a junction with a line coming in from Bergen in Norway, we hand a hard left out to Torsharvenon Faroe at 366 km, which is beginning to push it out a bit.
Then a further 500 km to Höfn í Hornafirði in Iceland where a lot of surface running will start, one line round the south of the island and one around the north, to keep the route open when various bits of Iceland are exploding. Once we get to the west coast at Nanteyri it back into a tunnel for the 360 km tunnel to Greenland to a place I can best describe as 68°44'46.36"N 26°22'34.17"W followed by the longest tunnel 1160 km under the ice of Greenland to good old Sisimiut, a good place for a station. This would be the longest tunnel on the route, only helped by the fact that the water above is frozen solid.
A 340 km hop brings us to Baffin Island on the west coast just opposite Cape Dyer. While we are actually on dry land with no ice pack it may be best to stay underground as the weather is awful, like North Wales on a June day, and anyway we have a lot of fjords and the like to cross before we get to Kimmirut on the Davis Straight for the last 175 km sea crossing to Kangiqsujuaq,Quebec and our first touch of the continental Americas.
It is now plain tunnelling to Thurso, Quebec and the main rail lines of North America, if the technology exists to get this far the might as well tunnel it to keep the scenery pretty and quiet.
All in all, it is 6137 km Thurso to Thurso, at HS2 speeds of 400 kph that is 15 hours 21 minutes. Personally, I would recommend standard gauge, but I'd wait till full automatic tunnelling can be done, with TBMs capable of handling the pressure, if there is a breakthrough of the ocean, and being able to fill the hole. Perhaps using Q-carbon to provide strength for the walls.
It would have to consist of multiple parallel interlinked tunnels, possibly 6 or more to provide the ventilation necessary and provide the volume to handle the blast from the train's shock. Plus the extensive cabling to provide power on the longer sections, and escape and rescue.
Additional tunnels would be provided for freight, which would only require slow, extremely long trains.
OK, I admit it is a Beatles themed Trans-Atlantic tunnel, but is quite likely a more practical scheme for long distances travel than Hyperloop.
So here it is the ultimate extension to Merseyrail to Thurso and not just Thurso but Thurso, Quebec via Thurso, Scotland which already has the most northerly railway station on the island of Great Britain. Thurso, Quebec also has a railway station which is on the main Ottawa to Montreal line.
So here is the first map of Merseyrail Transatlantic.
The first part of the route would be too extended the Northern Line beyond Kirkby and via Wigan to Thurso on the north east type of Scotland. You might think that America being to the west then the west would be the way to go, but unfortunately not, despite the invite of a station in Dublin, the 3000+ km from the west of Ireland to Newfoundland is a bit too long and the waters a bit too deep. Then there is the volcanically active mid-Atlantic Ridge, which stretches on average 2.5 cm a year. So it to the north and a bit of island hopping. So first it is Thurso, Kirkwall on Orkney at a modest
54km, just a warm-up, the tunnel would unlikely to surface but have a vent shaft combined with the station. Then on further north to Lerwick, Shetland at 166 km it is getting a bit longer.
At a junction with a line coming in from Bergen in Norway, we hand a hard left out to Torsharvenon Faroe at 366 km, which is beginning to push it out a bit.
Then a further 500 km to Höfn í Hornafirði in Iceland where a lot of surface running will start, one line round the south of the island and one around the north, to keep the route open when various bits of Iceland are exploding. Once we get to the west coast at Nanteyri it back into a tunnel for the 360 km tunnel to Greenland to a place I can best describe as 68°44'46.36"N 26°22'34.17"W followed by the longest tunnel 1160 km under the ice of Greenland to good old Sisimiut, a good place for a station. This would be the longest tunnel on the route, only helped by the fact that the water above is frozen solid.
A 340 km hop brings us to Baffin Island on the west coast just opposite Cape Dyer. While we are actually on dry land with no ice pack it may be best to stay underground as the weather is awful, like North Wales on a June day, and anyway we have a lot of fjords and the like to cross before we get to Kimmirut on the Davis Straight for the last 175 km sea crossing to Kangiqsujuaq,Quebec and our first touch of the continental Americas.
It would have to consist of multiple parallel interlinked tunnels, possibly 6 or more to provide the ventilation necessary and provide the volume to handle the blast from the train's shock. Plus the extensive cabling to provide power on the longer sections, and escape and rescue.
Additional tunnels would be provided for freight, which would only require slow, extremely long trains.
OK, I admit it is a Beatles themed Trans-Atlantic tunnel, but is quite likely a more practical scheme for long distances travel than Hyperloop.
I would agree with this idea for a long term sustainable, transatlantic link, which could use green energy. I would differ slightly on the route, in that I'd take it from the Butt oF Lewis to Suduroy in The Faroes, thus avoiding the deep sea trench between Shetland and the Faroes. Call me biased as I also live in the Western Isles. Also instead of attempting to tunnel under the vast, heavy ice sheet on Greenland, I would take it around the coast and include such interesting places as Tasiilaq and Narsaq. It wouldn't make it much longer a journey than it already would be and be great for tourists. My theme song for this would be the more obscure 'Drift Away' by the Kinks from their last album 'Phobia', said by many to be the best sixties band.
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