It’s taken 17 years and cost 12.2 billion Swiss francs (about USD12 billion) but Switzerland is finally ready to inaugurate the world’s largest railway tunnel.
The ceremony yesterday to celebrate the completion of the 57-kilometer tunnel through the Alps was greeted with great fanfare with the leaders of France, Germany and Italy on hand.
The thoroughfare aims to cut travel times, ease roadway traffic and draw cargo from pollution-spewing lorries trucking between Europe’s north and south. Once it opens for commercial service in December, the two-way tunnel will take up to 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day.
The tunnel through the Gotthard massif is a source of national pride, embodying national characteristics such as precision and technical innovation. Yet the majority of those who labored on the project – 17 years in the making, with work conducted around the clock in three shifts – were foreigners.
The tunnel’s unveiling at a ceremony featured dignitaries including German Chancellor Angela Merkel comes just as Switzerland aims to clamp down on immigration from the neighboring European Union.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel eclipses Japan’s 53.8-kilometer Seikan Tunnel as the world’s longest and burrows deeper — 2.3 kilometers — than any other rail tunnel.
Switzerland will once again lay claim to the longest railway tunnel. The last time the Alpine nation achieved this was with the initial 15-kilometer railway connection through the Gotthard massif in 1882. Still, the glory will be short-lived: Austria’s 64-kilometer Brenner Base tunnel is set to open in 2026. MDT/Agencies
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