Today, Sunday 11 December 2016, the Gotthard Base Tunnel enters into operation, which now becomes, with its 57 km excavated in the mountain between Switzerland and Italy, the longest railway tunnel in the world. After seventeen years of work, digging to a depth of 2.300 m, the work was delivered exactly on schedule by the Swiss Transport Office, which invested a total of 22 billion euros in the project.
The infrastructure will now make it possible to speed up freight transport but also passenger transport: the Milan-Zurich section will be covered in 3 hours, passing through Lugano, a time exactly equal to that taken by the very high speed between the Lombard capital and Rome. On board the Gottardino – as the trains that will travel on this route have been called – you will travel from one side of the Gotthard to the other, i.e. between Erstfeld, in the Canton of Uri, and Bodio, in Ticino, in just 17 minutes, saving at least 30 minutes, and bringing Italy and Switzerland even closer together.
Opened on June 1, 2016 with a grand ceremony, in the following six months (until 27 November) the new Gotthard tunnel was visited by thousands of people thanks to special trips that allowed everyone to admire this engineering masterpiece. Equipped with the red pioneer passport, delivered on departure, the train stopped in Sedrun, halfway through the tunnel, where panels, blow-ups and a video told of the work done to create this record-breaking tunnel. From today the route is finally and fully operational for everyone.
FIRSTonline has been following the evolution of the works for years, here is the special:
Gotthard, the longest tunnel in the world opens today
Gotthard, first trip in the tunnel of records. Renzi: "Thanks to Switzerland"
Gotthard, the longest tunnel in the world
Rhine-Alps corridor, the delay on the Italian side will cost us 6 billion
Gotthard one year after the record: it will be the longest railway tunnel in the world
