In 1999, the Swiss government
broke ground on the most
ambitious tunnel-building
project in history. The dual-
tube Gotthard Base Tunnel,
which opened in June, follows
a route that has a long history
of schlepping people and goods
over the Alps—it just happens
to do it as deep as 2.4 km below
the icy massifs. Thanks to the
precision of boring machines
with 9-metre heads, engineersexcavated 28 million tonnes of
rock (60 per cent of which was
recycled into the tunnel’s lining)
to dig the 56-km train passage,
ushering in an era of efficient
travel between points in Europe.
Passengers can rocket from
Zurich to Milan in three-and-a-
half hours (down from just over
four), and the shift of freight
from roads to rails could put a
real dent in air pollution. You’re
not claustrophobic are you?ALPTRANSIT GOTTHARD
GOTTHARD BASE TUNNELTunnel Through
the Alps
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