European Railroad Discussion > Goathard Base Tunnel opens

After 17 years of work, the 57km (35 mile) long Gotthard Base Tunnel has opened. It will reduce travel time by 50 minutes and is projected to remove thousands of trucks from Gotthard Pass. Supposedly, the rock removed from the two 37 mile tunnels is equivalent to 5 great pyramids.

The BBC story is at  xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

EDIT
Replacement link: <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36416506  (Thanks TAW! Your viseo is very good too.)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/16 12:06 by Christo.

Christo Wrote:
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> After 17 years of work, the 57km (35 mile) long
> Gotthard Base Tunnel has opened. It will reduce
> travel time by 50 minutes and is projected to
> remove thousands of trucks from Gotthard Pass.
> Supposedly, the rock removed from the two 37 mile
> tunnels is equivalent to 5 great pyramids.
>
> The BBC story is at : <>

That one is gone, but there is a video clip here http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/36429880

TAW

The removal of thousands of trucks from the higher mountain roads is a huge improvement.

In addition to the BBC stuff, go to swissinfo.com lots of coverage including video.

DaleR

As part of the celebrations, a steam double header was run over the now old line, no assistance except through the 9 mile tunnel at the top, there is a movie with some spectacular drone footage in the mountains on you tube, non clickable link is:


  youtube.com/watch?v=tbxKQvkw2X8

Thomas Eckhardt

Here is another good post on the engineering - track construction details

78 pages, take your time to read and soak in.


http://jlemails.co.uk/RGazette/GBT_eB_2016_LR.pdf

 

For those of you who have a subscription to the U.S.-based Trains magazine, here is my news item on the opening:
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2016/06/01-gotthard-tunnel-opens

And, here's a public album of images of the construction of the tunnel, courtesy of AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd.:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-and-marcia/sets/72157666624967795

Tom Murray
 

Thanks for the news on the Gotthard Base Tunnel opening.

Rhätische Bahn, RhB 3504, Allegra, ABe 8/12, 3504, near Campocologno, Switzerland, 9 September 2015.  I was impressed at the Swiss' ingenuity regarding their roads and railways.  Image here shows meter gauge Rhätische Bahn train crossing bridge with the highway.  Note grade crossing gate in foreground.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/16 13:18 by cozephyr.

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Rhätische Bahn just ordered 27 new four part EMUs of the 3100 type, basically an Allegra with just one powered vehicle and a driving trailer on the other end, plus options on 19 more. These will be used to double service frequency on the Stamnetz (all except Arosa and Bernina lines). The new frequency will be every half-hour. Also the new rolling stock for the loco-hauled service between Chur and St. Moritz has begun entering service, though the Driving Trailers haven't begun arriving yet.