World"s longest tunnel opens regular service in Switzerland

World News Rudolph Rodriquez
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Going deep beneath the Alps from Zurich to Lugano is the world’s longest tunnel which began regular rail service this Sunday.

Announced that Sunday will be the start of regular commercial traffic along the 57-kilometer GBT, by the Swiss national rail service (SBB) , the tunnel took 17 years to build with a budget of over US$ 11.8 billion. It is also the deepest railway tunnel in the world, reaching a depth of 2,400 meters.

With its opening ceremony in June , the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT), had famous passengers for the maiden ride, amongst them German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Hollande.

The SBB chief Andreas Meyer was quoted by ATS news service saying: ”It’s Christmas”, after the end of the first ride on the rail.

The same ATS news service informed that the first passenger ride to go through the GBT left from Zurich at 6:09 am (0509 GMT) and reached Lugano at 8:17 am, with the tunnel reducing the travel time by 30 minutes.

The project was given a huge amount of praise in Europe for its goal of improving connectivity from Rotterdam to the Adriatic.

The tunnel, which is funded by the Swiss, was mostly made possible by advances in tunnel-boring technology, which replaced the old and dangerous blast-and-drill method.

The GBT became the longest tunnel in the world, taking the title from the 53.9-kilometer Seikan tunnel in Japan, making the English Channel Tunnel, that is connecting England and France, only the third longest at 50.5 kilometers.