Swiss Celebrate Completion of World's Longest Railway Tunnel

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On October 15th, the people of Switzerland celebrated with abandon, as the drill broke through the last piece of rock, finally connecting the two ends of the Gotthard Base Tunnel - The world's longest railway tunnel. The mammoth undertaking that cost about 10 billion USD took 2,600 workers, 12 years to accomplish - And, it's not done yet.

The final touches which include laying rail tracks inside the 35.4-mile, tunnel that has a diameter of 9-meters, is expected to take another seven years. Once complete it, will pave the way for high-speed rail travel between northern and southwestern Europe, with as many as, 300 trains screeching through daily.

This is not the first time the Swiss have cut a railway tunnel through this treacherous region. The Gotthard Rail Tunnel, which opened in 1882 is a nine-mile stretch, that accommodates over 150 freight trains daily. However, this new tunnel is much flatter, which will allow for longer freight trains and hence have the capability to carry twice the cargo. It will also be used for high-speed passenger trains and will cut the commute time from Zurich to Milan by an hour, to 2 hrs 40 mins.

While the engineering feat is certainly commendable, the reason the country undertook such a mammoth, seemingly impossible task is even more admirable. Despite being a tiny land-locked country, with a population of only 7.8 million people, Switzerland has always been in the forefront when it comes to environmental issues. Rail cargo already accounts for 35% of all shipments in the region, as opposed to about 18% for the entire European Union. This new tunnel will increase the cargo capacity even more and help remove heavy trucks off the road. The Swiss believe that other countries will follow their lead in building additional environmentally friendly rail routes.

Sources:time.com mb.com, suntimes.com

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77 Comments
  • JazzyJabout 9 years
    That is so cool!! ;) 💎🎄🎀
    • dylanalmost 10 years
      longest tunnel ever. longest train ever. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
      • Congratsabout 10 years
        Sweden should be proud of their accomplishment. They broke a record that requires lots of labor machinery and money. Way to go Sweden!
        • E manalmost 11 years
          cool
          • jjabout 14 years
            pie!
            • jet lee adamabout 14 years
              according to the article, swiss has completed the railway. i feel good for them and should be rewarded with big money. this is a great completion for swiss and for traders. good luck on the next 7 years
              • Sdaabout 14 years
                Pie is good
                • Caseyabout 14 years
                  What would happen if the train broke down?
                  • KRAZEE PERSON333about 14 years
                    SCARY
                    • joeyabout 14 years
                      how many rail roads have they cut through and did they cut through a whole lot of rail roads to make one or are they just seperated and whos paying these people to cut through the rail roads
                      • 777life
                        777lifeover 8 years
                        I am pretty sure that they just connected to holes in the ground, big holes, but just holes with no rails, they will be putting the rails down now.