World’s longest tunnel takes shape under Swiss Alps

Eastern tube in the Gotthard Base Tunnel at th...
‘”The Gotthard will forever be a spectacular and grandiose monument with which all tunnels will be compared,” said Swiss Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger.

The 57-kilometre (35.4-mile) Gotthard base tunnel will form the lynchpin of a new network between northern and southeastern Europe that could shift truck freight onto rail and decongest the Alps in central Switzerland when it opens in 2017.

Passengers will ultimately be able to speed from the Italian city of Milan to Zurich in less than three hours and further north into Germany, cutting the journey time by an hour.’ (phys.org)