The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the Longest Rail Tunnel Finished
 The Gotthard Base Tunnel The Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland is the longest rail tunnel in the world and the drilling was finished on Friday, when the giant drilling machine ate through the last bits of rock. It took 14 years to build the giant tunnel. The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is underneath the Alps in Switzerland. The tunnel is 35.4 miles long and the total length of the whole project is 94.3 mi of tunnels, shafts and passages. The drilling machine that was used is nicknamed Sissi. The tunnel consists of two separate single track tunnels and cost about $10 billion. The Gotthard Base tunnel is part of the AlpTransit project, also known as the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA). The tubnnel will be used by high speed trains and heavy freight trains. The tunnel is expected to be opens for traffic by the end of 2017. It will reduce the travel time Zürich to Milan from 3.5 hours to 2.5 hours and from Zürich to Lugano to 1 hour 40 minutes. The Gotthard Base Tunnel is about 2.5 miles longer then the Seikan rail tunnel in Japan, which had held the world record before as being the longest rail tunnel. The Seikan rail tunnel is still the longest undersea tunnel in the world.  Gotthard Base Tunnel |
