The Lötschberg rail tunnel cost an estimated £4billion to build and takes you beneath Switzerland‘s breathtaking mountains.
A 21.4 mile long high speed link, the tunnel was the longest in Switzerland when it opened in 2007, running from Frutigen in the country’s Kander valley to Raron in the Swiss canton, Valais.
On completion, the tunnel was to carry 30 passenger trains between Bern and Valais with another 12 to Milan.
It shaved a third off the travel time between Bern and the Apline town of Brig while the journey time between Germany and Milan was cut by an hour.
Swiss voters gave the tunnel the thumbs up in 1998 after a fierce debate about the scheme’s merits. Former Swiss finance minister Otto Stich believed the project would never turn a profit while former transport minister Adolf Ogi hailed the tunnel.
The aim was to take heavy goods traffic off the roads and onto rails along what was the first high speed north to south rail link through the Swiss Alps.
Lötschberg rail tunnel was designed with two, separate, one-way single-track tubes. In the first phase only one tunnel was built between the north portal in Frutigen and a service station in Mittelholz.
The subterranean route is connected by transverse tunnels every 333m for safety reasons.
Travel speeds vary from 62mph for regular freight trains to 155mph for tilting passenger services.
The absence of the second bore is said to have reduced Lötschberg rail tunnel’s capacity, though a contract was awarded in 2016 to complete its second track.
Besides Lötschberg, Switzerland is home to one of the world’s longest road tunnels, St. Gotthard runs between Göschenen and Airolo, measuring 10.4 miles in length.
Built in 2000, 15.2 mile long road tunnel, Lærdal, in Norway, passes between the municipality of the same name and Aurland.
Another of the world’s longest road tunnels is Yamate Tunnel in Tokyo, Japan, which measures 11.3 miles in length.
In China there are two road tunnels reaching great lengths – Zhongnanshan Tunnel in Shaanxi (11.2 miles) and Jinpingshan Tunnel, Sichuan, (10.9 miles).
