The newly built Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland is the longest
railroad tunnel in the world. It opened in June and started service on
11 December, and it connects the country’s northern and southern
halves underneath the Alps’ Saint Gotthard mountain range, allowing
the high-speed passenger trains to travel up to 155mph.
This 35.5-mile-long tunnel intends to transmute European bulk
transport, as it connects Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Genoa in
Italy. There will be fewer trucks on the Alpine highways.
When trains pass through the gorges and smaller tunnels, they
inevitably climb up and down the slopes, burning extra electricity
which requires locomotives and a lot of energy. But the Gotthard
Tunnel runs through the mountains straight rather than rising and
falling, diminishing the need to pull trains uphill and reduces the
energy consumption. The tunnel’s long path was carved through 73
different types of rock.
Other than shortening travel distances, the tunnel stands important
for welding together a cultural force. This project was immensely
costly, complicated, time-consuming and unrushed.
The popular 4.5-hour ride between Zurich and Milan will be shortened
by about 60 minutes. Now more cargo trains will deliver the goods
faster and with less energy as there will be no need to travel uphill.
The tunnel is an example of a massive infrastructural undertaking.
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