{"id":123171,"date":"2016-07-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/the-worlds-longest-and-most-expensive-railway-tunnel-gotthard-switzerlands-engineering-triumph\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T16:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:48:36","slug":"the-worlds-longest-and-most-expensive-railway-tunnel-gotthard-switzerlands-engineering-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/the-worlds-longest-and-most-expensive-railway-tunnel-gotthard-switzerlands-engineering-triumph\/","title":{"rendered":"The world’s longest and most expensive railway tunnel: Gotthard, Switzerland’s engineering triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"
Crossing the Alps at a depth of 2,300 meters below the peaks, spanning a length of 57.5 kilometers \u2013 the world’s longest railway tunnel has been inaugurated by Switzerland, following a colossal investment of over 12 billion dollars. The new section will reduce the journey on the Zurich-Lugano-Milan route by nearly an hour, becoming fully functional by the end of this year.<\/div>\n
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Built in the heart of the Alps, the Gotthard tunnel represents much more than just the longest or most expensive project of its kind: it is an expression of Swiss professionalism and symbolizes the triumph of direct democracy (the project was approved by over two-thirds of citizens in a referendum held in 1992).<\/div>\n
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Completed after works spanning more than two decades, Gotthard is a stunning technical achievement, compared to an \u201cinvisible cathedral.\u201d Engineers from 15 European countries collaborated on this project, providing solutions to excavate through 73 different types of rock (from extremely hard ones like granite to very soft ones like sugar-like rock). In total, over 28 million tons of stone were excavated, which was crushed as much as possible to be used in the tunnel’s construction.<\/div>\n
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– 65% of construction costs were paid from taxes paid by large vehicles<\/div>\n
– With the inauguration of the new tunnel, trains will be able to cross the Gotthard massif at a maximum speed of 250 km\/h<\/div>\n
– The Gotthard tunnel has surpassed the Seikan Tunnel in Japan. With a length of 53.9 kilometers, it connects the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, holding world supremacy since 1988<\/div>\n
– The Swiss project could lose its title quite soon, as the Chinese government plans to build an undersea tunnel under Bohai Bay, which will measure 123 kilometers<\/div>\n
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Last but not least, Gotthard represents a symbol of cooperation between European states, at a time when borders are closing and extremist nationalism is taking root. To emphasize the importance of this project for the whole of Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Fran\u00e7ois Hollande, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi joined Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann to take part in the opening ceremony. The event was a grand one, in line with the project: organizational costs exceeded 8 million dollars, and about 1,200 high-ranking officials were invited.<\/div>\n
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Source: Imopedia\/Media<\/a><\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/h3>\n

How long is the Gotthard tunnel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tunnel is 57.5 kilometers long, currently making it the longest railway tunnel in the world.<\/p>\n

What was the total cost of the project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The total investment for the construction of the Gotthard tunnel exceeded 12 billion dollars.<\/p>\n

What speed will trains reach through the tunnel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trains will be able to cross the mountain massif at a maximum speed of up to 250 km\/h.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crossing the Alps at a depth of 2,300 meters below the peaks, spanning a length of 57.5 kilometers \u2013 the world’s longest railway tunnel has been inaugurated by Switzerland, following a colossal investment of over 12 billion dollars. The new section will reduce the journey on the Zurich-Lugano-Milan route by nearly an hour, becoming fully…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":66241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2857],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-123171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transactions"],"article_style_override":"","post-style":"","post_via":"","post-top-image":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/tranzactii-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123171"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=123171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}