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Gotthard Base Tunnel facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
20141120 gotthard-basistunnel02-wikipedia-hannes-ortlieb
Turnout at Faido multifunction station
Map Gotthard-Basistunnel
Map of the Gotthard Base Tunnel

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; German: Gotthard-Basistunnel, Italian: Galleria di base del San Gottardo, Romansh: Tunnel da basa dal Son Gottard) is a railway tunnel in Switzerland. With a route length of 57.09 km (35.5 mi), it is the longest tunnel in the world. The link consists of two single-track tunnels connecting Erstfeld (Uri) with Bodio (Ticino) and passing below Sedrun (Graubünden). The main purpose of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is to increase local transport capacity through the Alpine barrier, especially for freight, notably on the Rotterdam–Basel–Genoa corridor, and more specifically to shift freight volumes from trucks to freight trains. This both significantly reduces the danger of fatal road crashes involving trucks, and reduces the environmental damage caused by heavy trucks. The tunnel provides a faster connection between the canton of Ticino and the rest of Switzerland, as well as between northern and southern Europe, cutting the Basel/Zurich–Lugano–Milan journey time for passenger trains by 1 hour (and from Lucerne to Bellinzona by 45 minutes). After 64 percent of Swiss voters accepted the NRLA project in a 1992 referendum, first preparatory and exploratory work began in 1996. The official start of construction began on 4 November 1999 at Amsteg. As of 1998, the total projected cost of the project was CHF 6.323 billion; as of December 2015, the final cost is projected as CHF 9.560 billion.

Images for kids

  • Nordportal Gotthard-Basistunnel

    Aerial view of the Uri Reuss Valley and the 3,073-metre-high (10,082 ft) Bristen peak from the north portal. The historic routes on the Gotthard (road and railway) follow the Reuss upwards, which flows west of the Bristen.

  • NEAT GBT engl crop

    Relative location and size of Gotthard Tunnel (1882) and Gotthard Base Tunnel (2016), both shown in yellow. Open-air rail shown in red.

  • Nrla scheme

    Gotthard Base Tunnel diagram, the new railway link through the Alps NRLA (green: → excavation direction).

  • Gotthard Basistunnel Portal Nord 2009-06-14

    Aerial view of the Erstfeld area (north portal) in 2009

  • Gotthard 2016

    Inauguration days, where the public was allowed to experience high-speed travel below the Alps for the first time, and to move quickly between the exhibitions held in Erstfeld and Bodio.

  • SBB - Gotthard Base Tunnel (30346410681)

    Sedrun multifunction station viewed from the control cab of a Gottardino train.

  • Gottardo

    South portal: Intercity on the base line and regional train on the summit line

  • AlpTransit NEAT - Baustelle Erstfeld UR (22012331549)

    Integration of the portals into the landscape

  • AlpTransit NEAT - Gleisarbeiten - Baustelle Erstfeld UR (22010895298)

    The new 4-kilometre-long (2.5 mi) open-air section from Rynächt to the north portal

  • AlpTransit NEAT - Baustelle Biasca TI (22066173240)

    Start of the new 7-kilometre-long (4.3 mi) open-air section from Giustizia to the south portal

  • Periscopio Pollegio 140515

    The Pollegio Control Centre (near the south portal) with one of the four used TBM cutter heads on display

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Túnel de base de San Gotardo para niños

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