The new Gotthard Tuel: in numbers

What links the Gotthard Base Tuel to the London 2012 Olympics? Or to New York’s iconic Empire State Building? One month before the tuel is inaugurated, swissinfo.ch brings you the extraordinary numbers that make up the world’s longest rail tuel.

The wait has been a long one: 17 years to be precise. Now the countdown has begun and in exactly one month – June 1, 2016, the Gotthard Base Tuel will be officially opened. The event will be attended by dignitaries from Switzerland and abroad, including heads of state and representatives from inteational organisations.

The new tuel, hewn through mountain rock, will become one of the main rail links across the Alps. And it will be the longest in the world at 57 kilometres. But this is not the only impressive thing about it.

There is one stage of the building of the Gotthard Tuel that has entered history: October 15, 2010. This was the date of the Gotthard tuel breakthrough, deep in the easte tuel, between Sedrun and Faido. At 14.17 Switzerland had just completed excavating the longest railway tuel in the world. It’s a record that’s set to stay for many years to come.

swissinfo.ch

SWI swissinfo...