It would be the most breathtaking train ride ever.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is developing an underwater railway to connect Dubai with the Indian city of Mumbai.
It's an ambitious ambition, but it appears the country is getting closer to making it a reality.
The 1,200-mile (2,000-kilometer) voyage would connect Dubai and Mumbai in an unprecedented fashion.
And the railway would not only move people, but also products and commodities such as water and oil.
The irony of constructing an underwater railway to move water is not lost on us.
Dubai's underwater train tunnel and engineering marvel #Dubai #UAE #India #Future #Vision2030 pic.twitter.com/83MGYBAhMS
— Wolf Of Dubai (@iamthepack1) August 25, 2023
The issue is, this isn't just vaporware.
The Dubai-Mumbai underwater railway concept was initially discussed in 2018, although it was nothing more than idle chatter at the time.
The National Advisor Bureau of the United Arab Emirates is now working on a realistic layout for the railway and the sort of train that would be necessary.
The UAE and India enjoy an excellent and tight connection, but if we had to guess, we'd think Dubai wants to create an underwater train for another reason.
For many years, the UAE was the only place to go in the Middle East for technology, building, and infrastructure.
Now, Saudi Arabia is attempting to challenge the UAE's supremacy with outlandish projects sponsored with unlimited funds.
The largest and, possibly, most talked-about project is the so-called LINE, a horizontally extended megacity that connects the desert to the sea.
It's an ambitious concept, and a costly one at that, with the total cost of the NEOM project expected to reach $1 trillion.
The Line will alone cost $500 billion.
Construction is already underway, and Saudi Arabia hopes to open the Line by the end of the decade.
This might explain, at least in part, why the UAE is eager to begin work on the underwater railroad.
Underwater trains are not unheard of, and the Channel Tunnel, which connects the United Kingdom to France, is undoubtedly the world's most renowned underwater railway tunnel.
The Dubai-Mumbai route, on the other hand, would be unique.
You wouldn't notice you're underwater after you're in the Channel Tunnel if you didn't board the train near the sea.
Meanwhile, the Dubai-Mumbai route would be much more picturesque, with breathtaking see-through windows to remind you that you're underwater.
