[82], 67,000 tons on 120 trains passed through the tunnel each day during the first half year of operation.[84]. 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 through the Alps in Switzerland. Work is continuing on a rail tunnel that will run beneath the Gotthard pass. The cheapest way to get from Linz to Gotthard Road Tunnel costs only SFr 32, and the quickest way takes just 6¼ hours. As of 2016, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the world. It opened on 1 June 2016 and full service began on 11 December 2016. The Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland is a very important transportation route for both trains and vehicles between northern and southern Europe. It is now the world's longest and deepest rail tunnel. The Gotthard Road Tunnel is one of the three tunnels that connect the Swiss Plateau to southern Switzerland and run under the Gotthard Massif, the two other being railway tunnels, the Gotthard Tunnel (1882) and the Gotthard Base Tunnel (2016). [60] On the following weekend, popular festivities and special exhibitions, attended by more than 100,000 visitors, were held. Current situation. This both significantly reduces the danger of fatal road crashes involving trucks, and reduces the environmental damage caused by heavy trucks. It posed a huge challenge for automobiles. gotthard valley / pass san gottardo switzerland - gotthard road tunnel stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. In order to be able to maintain a road connection on the Gotthard axis all year round, the Swiss government decided to build a second tube and then renovate the existing tunnel. A second law, the Alpine Protection Act of February 1994,[26] requires a shift of as much tonnage as possible from truck transport to train transport. [18] They were: In 2016, several events, including festivities and special exhibitions, were held around the Gotthard, culminating in the inaugurations in early June, dubbed Gottardo 2016. The Gotthard Pass is located halfway between Lake Lucerne and Lake Maggiore. All three tunnels bypass the Gotthard Pass, an important trade route since the 13th century. The tunnel is part of the New Alpine Transverse in Switzerland. More than ten years drilling heads working on the "century-construction" in the mountains. The dual purpose of this project is to provide a highspeed link for passengers between Germany in the North of Europe and Italy in the South of The Gotthard Base Tunnel for trains which opens later this year will help rail traffic through the Alps. On 8 November, a train reached the top speed of 275 km/h.[39]. Featuring a restaurant, bar and free WiFi, Ospizio San Gottardo is located in Airolo, 10 miles from Gotthard Road Tunnel - South Portal and a 3-minute walk from Gotthard Pass. 2 km from Airolo-Pesciüm, the property features ski storage space. Since the 13th century, the 2,106-metre-high (6,909 ft) Gotthard Pass has been an important trade route from northern to southern Europe. From 1842 onwards, a daily course by the Gotthard Post, a stagecoach drawn by five horses with ten seats, still took about 23 hours from Como to Flüelen. The Gotthard road tunnel is part of the road network in Switzerland (motorway A2 Basel - Chiasso) where you will need an annual Swiss vignette. While the cantons of Uri and Ticino are part of the German- and Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland respectively, the Surselva is mainly Romansh-speaking. See also: Bernard Wuthrich, "Le Romand du Gothard", world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel, normals/climate-diagrams-and- normal-values-per-station.html?region=Map Climate diagrams and normal values per station, "Project data – raw construction Gotthard Base Tunnel", "Über und durch den Gotthard – eine Zeitreise durch die Jahrhunderte", "World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland", "Gotthard- und CeneriBasistunnel: die neue Gotthard-Bahn nimmt Gestalt an", "Gotthard tunnel: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel opens in Switzerland", "Le tunnel de base du Gothard révolutionnera le rail dans deux ans", "Chronology of a Project of the Century: Milestones in the Construction History up to 2010", "Gotthard Base Tunnel to be operational from 2016", "Oberaufsicht über den Bau der Neat im Jahre 2015: Bericht der Neat-Aufsichtsdelegation der eidgenössischen Räte zuhanden der Finanzkommissionen, der Geschäftsprüfungskommissionen und der Kommissionen für Verkehr und Fernmeldewesen", "Memorial ceremony for deceased tunnel workers", "Trois heures en 20 ans, le temps gagné pour traverser l'Europe par le Gothard", "Switzerland Celebrates World's Longest Rail Tunnel", "Opposing views on doubling the Gotthard tunnel – SWI", http://www.thelocal.ch/20160229/voters-give-green-light-to-new-gotthard-road-tunnel, 10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0192:TACAMF]2.0.CO;2, "Bundesrat bestätigt vorläufigen Verzicht auf die Porta Alpina", "Final breakthrough of the longest railway tunnel in the world", "Switzerland's Gotthard Base train tunnel is redefining Europe", "Switzerland: First transit in the Gotthard Base Tunnel", "Test trains running on Gotthard Base Tunnel", "The construction of the century takes shape", "Celebrations as last piece of track is laid in record-breaking Gotthard rail tunnel | euronews, world news", "Mit 275 Sachen durch den Gotthard-Basistunnel", "Structurally complete tunnels of the Amsteg section handed over", "Gotthard approaches final breakthrough, Ceneri starts main drive", "Installation of the railway systems in the north has begun", "Salvatore di Benedetto, † 21. "[19] On average, the temperature is about 3 °C (5 °F) higher on the south side than the north side, but on some days, temperature differences are well over 10 °C (18 °F). Its purpose was to test the infrastructure and any ancillary systems. The existing Gotthard road tunnel with a length of 16.9 km ensures the crossing of the Swiss Alps via highway N02 between the municipalities of Göschenen in the north and Airolo in the south since 1980. It is the longest traffic tube in world that connects the canton Uri and Ticino. Today the Gotthard Road Tunnel is only number nine in the world. The Gotthard Tunnel Road was opened for traffic on September 5th 1980. A bronze memorial plaque with their names — four coming from Germany, three from Italy, and one from each of South Africa and Austria – was unveiled by AlpTransit Gotthard AG CEO Renzo Simoni. The Gotthard Road Tunnel, itself an incredibly impressive piece of engineering measuring 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) and reaching 1,080 metres (3,540 ft) underground, opened for traffic in 1980 and remains one of the most important road routes on the north-south axis through the Alps. Until Chiasso (canton Ticino, on the border with Italy, customs at Chiasso) there will be no additional tolls in Switzerland. A window allows visitors to watch the trains running in the tunnel. Like the two other tunnels passing below the Gotthard, the Gotthard Base Tunnel connects two Alpine valleys across the Saint-Gotthard Massif: the Urner Reusstal in the canton of Uri, in which flows the river Reuss, and the Valle Leventina, the largest valley in the canton of Ticino, in which the river Ticino flows. It is a single-bore tunnel with one lane operating in each direction from Göschenen to Airolo. When the St. Gotthard tunnel is blocked because of too much traffic, then you can bypass via the historic Gotthard Pass (Passo del San Gottardo). At the end of the access tunnel, two vertical shafts lead 800 m (2,625 ft) down to the base tunnel level. It is referred to as a "base tunnel" since it bypasses most of the existing Gotthard railway line, a winding mountain route opened in 1882 across the Saint-Gotthard Massif, which was operating at its capacity before the opening of the GBT. The tunnel was officially inaugurated on 1 June 2016. The Gotthard tunnel fee is already included in the annual vignette. While the base tunnel is used for InterCity trains (ICN) and EuroCity trains (EC), the summit line remains in use for regional trains. On 31 May 2016, a day before the inauguration, the nine people who died during construction were commemorated in a ceremony at the north portal in Erstfeld that was led by a Catholic vicar general, a vicar of the Evangelical-Reformed Church of Uri, a Jewish rabbi, and a Muslim imam. The existing tunnel was at its capacity by 2013. It was built to lower train times between Zurich and Milan and increase capacity. Nine workers lost their lives during construction; one in the Amsteg section, two in the Sedrun section, and three each in the southernmost Faido and Bodio sections. If you have purchased the Swiss vignette, then you do not have to pay additional costs for the Gotthard tunnel. The purpose of the renovation work, which is to be completed by the year 2035 at the latest, is to address structural concerns and secure continued compliance with safety regulations. : this page was last edited on 19 December 2020, at 13:43 than... 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