World's longest railway tunnel ' Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT)' to open after 17 years of construction

The world's longest railway tunnel is set to open in just over a week - after some 17 years of construction. 

Measuring 35.4-miles in length, the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is 7,545 feet below the Gotthard massif, cutting through the Swiss Alps.

The tunnel was first conceived in sketch-form in 1947 but construction began 17 years ago. 

It consists of two single-track tunnels connecting Erstfeld (Uri) with Bodio (Ticino) and passing below Sedrun (Graubünden).

The new tunnel through the Swiss Alps will make north-south travel more fluid, curb air pollution and 'will be a driver of growth in Europe', EU transport commissioner Violeta Bulc has said

The GBT will displace Japan's 33.46-mile Seikan tunnel as the world's longest train tunnel and bump the 31.4-mile Channel Tunnel that links England and France into third place

The World's Longest Rail Tunnel in the Heart of the Swiss Alps 

 

• Length: 57km (the longest rail tunnel in the world)
• Duration of tunnel journey: a little under 20 minutes 
• Total length of all the tunnels: 152km (94 miles)
• Highest point of the tunnel: 550m (1,800 feet) above sea level
• Maximum rock cover: 2,300m (7,545 metres)
• Construction time (excluding exploratory work): 17 years 
• Excavated material: 28.2 million tonnes 
• Total cost: 12.2billion Swiss francs (£8.4billion)
• Tunnel capacity: 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day
• Timetabled speed: freight trains 100km/h (62mph); passenger trains up to 200 km/h (125mph)
• Maximum speed: freight trains 160km/h (100mph); passenger trains 250 km/h (155mph) 
• Reduction in journey time from Zurich to Lugano after completion of the axis (from 2020): around 45 minutes
•  Official opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel: 11 December 2016