To the outside world Switzerland is a picture postcard , but the reality is not so pretty, because of Switzerland’s central location many cars pass by Switzerland.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a railway tunnel in the heart of the Swiss Alps expected to open in 2016. With a route length of 57 km and a total of 151.84 km of tunnels, shafts and passages, it is the world’s longest rail tunnel, passing the Seikan Tunnel in Japan.
The Swiss engineers carefully considered the pros and cons of each design. Commercial operations through the partially fitted out 34.6km (21.5 mile) Lötschberg base tunnel began in December 2007.
Its main purpose is to increase total transport capacity across the Alps, especially for freight, notably between Germany and Italy, and more particularly to shift freight volumes from road to rail to reduce environmental damage caused by ever-increasing numbers of heavy lorries. A secondary benefit will be to cut the journey time for passenger trains from Zürich to Milan by about an hour and from Zürich to Lugano to 1-hour 40 minutes.
Two aspects of the original project have been postponed indefinitely. The Porta Alpina deep level station planned as part of the Sedrun access point was shelved in September 2007 over concerns relating to cost, value and technical issues.
The 11km second phase of the Zimmerberg base tunnel on the Zurich-Zug section has also been dropped. Becoming the world’s longest railway tunnel, commercial operation of the Gotthard Base Tunnel with scheduled train services is now planned to start no earlier than the end of 2017.
This tunnel really can become some of the 7 Wonders of the World. It is the largest tunnel ever projected in the world. If you ever happen to pass by Switzerland . pass by this tunnel so you can explore an experience of a lifetime.
