Railway beneath the Alps soon to be completed – Trip between Zurich and Milan to take only 2.5 hours

A railway measuring thousands of meters in length will soon be completed beneath the Swiss Alps, with the longest rail tunnel in the world, Gotthard, in the middle.

The tunnel, which opened in 2016, is located in the very center of the section beneath the Alps, and this year, the first trains will pass through a shorter, but equally important tunnel, Ceneri, near Lugano.

The project is worth USD 11.3 billion, as reported by the Zagreb-based portal Index.hr.

The works are being carried out at the depth of 2,500 meters beneath the peaks of the Alps, with 2,500 workers making their way through 30 million tons of granite.

Taking into account the smaller tunnels which connect the main two parallel tunnels every 325 meters, the tunnel network amounts to more than 150 kilometers.

Two multifunctional stations are located inside these tunnels, enabling trains to switch from one to another, for maintenance or in emergency cases.

Once the railway beneath the Alps opens, it will take only 2.5 hours to travel between Zurich and Milan, and trains will run at around 200 km/h through the tunnels.

Alps

high speed railway

rail tunnel

Gotthard

Ceneri

Lugano

Zurich

Milan

granite

railway station