The longest railway tunnel in the world is open in Switzerland: 57 km

It is hard to believe, but the 17-year-old engineering project accurately met the estimate and was completed 1 year ahead of schedule.

The longest and deepest in the world Gotthard base tunnel officially opened in Switzerland after 17 years of construction.

A new tunnel through the Alps connected northern and southern Europe (Italy and Germany) directly by rail. In the list of the longest transport tunnels in the world, the Gotthard Base Tunnel (57.1 km) overtook the Seikan Japanese Tunnel (53.9 km) and the Eurotunnel (50.5 km).


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At the same time, the Gotthard base tunnel is also the deepest in the world: in one place, the mountain rises above the tunnel to a height of 2.3 km, and the temperature of the rock reaches 46 ° C.

Seven longest tunnels in the world for cars and freight trains

• Gotthard Base Tunnel , Switzerland, 2016: 57.1 km
• Seikan tunnel : 53.9 km
• Eurotunnel , UK-France 1994: 50.5 km
• Yulhyeon Tunnel , South Korea, 2015: 50.3 km
• Base tunnel Lötchberg , Switzerland, 2007: 34.6 km
• New Guangzhou Tunnel , China, 2014: 32.6 km
• Tunnel of Guadarrama , Spain, 2007: 28.4 km

The northern portal of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is located near the village of Herstfed, and the southern portal is near the village of Bodio. At the opening ceremony, two trains entered the portals at the same time.



The Catholic priest sprinkled holy water on the train road (it was a part of a big performance for the audience and the press, as we see, this tradition is observed not only before the launch of Russian rockets).



According to the Swiss authorities, the new road will greatly affect the European freight market: previously, millions of trucks drove through a mountain pass. Now they will be replaced by faster and cheaper rail transport. In addition to saving money and economic benefits, a mountain tunnel is better for the environment: trains do not pollute the Alpine atmosphere as much as emissions from millions of trucks. 260 freight and 65 passenger trains can pass through the tunnel daily at speeds of up to 250 km / h.



At the opening ceremony, Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann (Johann Schneider-Ammann) said that this is "a giant step for Switzerland, but just as important for our neighbors and the rest of the continent." At the opening of the tunnel was attended by the heads of state of Germany, France, Italy and Austria.

The project budget amounted to more than $ 12 billion. Like all other important decisions in Switzerland, it was approved at a national referendum held in 1992. Two years later, the Swiss voted to completely transfer all freight transport that goes through Switzerland to this tunnel.

For 17 years, engineers had to make their way through 73 different types of rocks: from solid granite to the softest rocks, around which it is necessary to reinforce the supporting structures as rigidly as possible.





For the construction of the tunnel was used 2700 tons tunnel complex 410 meters long.



During construction more than 28 megatons of rocks were extracted from the tunnel, 4 million cubic meters of concrete were used. 2600 people worked on the construction.

Together with service branches and pedestrian passages, the length of the tunnel is 153.4 km, and 3200 km of communication cables are laid in it.



In general, the completion of such a gigantic project without delay (one year ahead of schedule!) And in accordance with the initial estimate is a huge success of Swiss engineering, which once again shows the importance of careful planning and strict implementation of the plan.

Trains through the tunnel also go exactly like a Swiss watch .



There is a great 360-degree video on Youtube that shows the Gotthard Base Tunnel.



A 360-degree video means that at any moment you can “turn” the camera in any direction.