Top government officials in Russia have backed a plan to build a $60 billion, 65-mile tunnel under the Bering Strait connecting North America and Asia. If completed, a train could feasibly travel west from New York City all the way to London. Supporters of the project cited commerce as an impetus, as railway shipping is cheaper and faster than container ships, though the linking train would only account for about 3 percent of global commerce. Such a tunnel would create the first dry connection between the continents since land bridged the strait more than 20,000 years ago. Over a century ago, MSNBC reported, Tsar Nicholas II approved similar tunnel plans that were put on hold by World War I and the Russian Revolution.
