The UAE Wants an Underwater Bullet Train to India

It'd transport people, oil, and other resources.

Water Slides

The United Arab Emirates' National Advisor Bureau just proposed an underwater bullet train to connect Mumbai, India with Fujairah. The 2,000 km journey would take two hours of exhilarating — or terrifying — underwater travel, Business Today reports.

A video published to YouTube last month by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) shows the project's concept art, which involves a long tube floating just beneath the surface of the Arabian Sea, suspended and held in place by a network of floating rigs.

 

Some Precedent

An underwater bullet train sounds totally far-fetched at first — even the director of the National Advisor Bureau, Abdulla Alshehhi, said that it's still just a concept that needs to be explored in upcoming feasibility studies. But it wouldn't be the first underwater train out there.

The Chinese government also explored the concept of underwater bullet trains back in 2005, according to CNN. Last month, the government approved a railway that will connect the Chinese city Ningbo to an island called Zhoushan. That bullet train will travel underwater for just over 16 km of its 77 km journey.

Fingers Crossed

If the train works out, Alshehhi expects it to improve both passenger travel and commerce between the UAE and India.

He foresees the two nations using the futuristic, floating transit line to shuttle not only people, but also oil, water, and other resources back and forth.

READ MORE: Mumbai to Fujairah in 2 hours! UAE plans underwater bullet train to boost connectivity with India [Business Today]

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