From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Europe rejoices as record-setting rail slices through Alps
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleOn the same day that Israeli officials announced a high-speed rail link between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv would not be completed until 2018, moving the expected finish date back another year, European leaders have taken a triumphant ride on the world’s longest railway tunnel, which finished on time and burrows under the Swiss Alps to ease trade and congestion in European trade and travel.
The 57-kilometer (35.4 mile) Gotthard Railway Tunnel, a major engineering achievement deep under snow-capped peaks, caps a 17 years project that cost 12.2 billion Swiss francs ($12 billion).
The Gotthard Base Tunnel is a record-setter: It eclipses Japan’s 53.8-kilometer Seikan Tunnel as the world’s longest and bores deeper than any other tunnel, running about 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) underground at its maximum depth.
The thoroughfare aims to cut travel times, ease roadway traffic and draw cargo from pollution-spewing trucks moving between Europe’s north and south. Once it opens for commercial service in December, the two-way tunnel will take up to 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day.
Switzerland has pulled out all the stops for the inauguration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi came for a flashy celebration featuring musical bands, dancers and even a tunnel theme song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkpiiInnmO0
The EU turnout is little surprise: The project, while cutting a north-south axis through central Switzerland, has received financial support and industrial know-how from around the European Union. Though Switzerland isn’t one of the bloc’s 28 members, the EU railway network will get a major boost from the shortcut through the Alps, notably on the route from Germany to Italy.
Fast line #TelAviv to #Jerusalem will be running at end of 2018, according to #Israel rail in brief to @rubirivlin pic.twitter.com/KsqEU28b7m
— Melanie Lidman (@melanielidman) June 1, 2016
— AFP and Times of Israel staff
The Times of Israel Community.