Switzerland World Longest Tunnel 8,000 feet Beneath the Alps

Well, the incredible 35 mile long Neat Gotthard based tunnel construction has completed actually the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel, in Switzerland. The Tunnel has now surpassed Japan’s 14.5-mile Seikan Tunnel, which connects the main island of Honshu with the northern island of Hokkaido. The tunnel will transport passengers from Zurich to Milan in about two hours and fifty minutes, saving an hour off current travel time. The NEAT Gotthard Base Tunnel, opens to the public on June 1 2016, measuring 35 miles, it surpasses Japan’s 14.5-mile Seikan Tunnel. The mega projected was planned in 1996, and it took almost 20 years to complete. The ambitious project was funded by Switzerland at cost of around $10.3 billion or £6.5 billion.

More than 2,000 workers were drafted in to excavate over two million truckloads of earth from as deep as 8,000 below the surface of the earth. Due to the rugged terrain of the Alps, linking imperative cities, such as Milan and Zurich is no mean feat, but highly thanks to the tunnel being almost completely flat along its entire length, trains will soon be able to travel at over 150 miles per hour. Therefore, excavation involved huge tunnel boring machines cutting through almost 100 feet of rock every day. It was a dangerous process, and tragically eight workers died during construction.  The first safety tests will take place in October 2015. So far all scenarios will be considered and tested.  After opening the tunnel, it will be the safest stretch of the Swiss railway network. Moreover, in January 2016, thousand people will be selected to take the first voyage.