Russia has put forward an ambitious plan to construct a 112-kilometre undersea rail and freight tunnel beneath the Bering Strait, aiming to link its Far-East region with Alaska and, by extension, North America. The proposal, floated by a senior Russian investment envoy, envisions connecting the remote reaches of Russia’s Chukotka peninsula with Alaska via a direct tunnel. The project is estimated to cost around US $8 billion and could be completed in under eight years, according to Russian officials.
The tunnel is intended not just as an engineering marvel but as a symbol of deeper cooperation between the continents of Eurasia and North America. It is suggested that new tunnelling technology, possibly from private-sector partners, could dramatically reduce costs compared to earlier estimates which placed the price tag at over US $65 billion.
While Russian officials emphasize the potential benefits — such as increased trade, resource access, and intercontinental connectivity — major questions remain about the tunnel’s viability. These include severe environmental and geographic hurdles in the Arctic region, lack of supportive infrastructure in remote Russian territories, and the broader political complexities of U.S.–Russia relations. At present no formal agreement has been signed and the proposal remains at an exploratory stage.
