A 21-mile over-land tunnel has opened in Switzerland, running underneath the Swiss Alps and dramatically reducing the travel times for newly opened high-speed trains connecting Germany, France, and Italy.
"The tunnel, which took eight years to build and cost 4.3 billion Swiss francs (US$3.5 billion; €2.6 billion), will trim the time trains need to cross between Germany and Italy from 3 1/2 hours to just under two."
"Freight trains will be able to travel at speeds up to 160 kph (100 mph) and passenger trains at up to 250 mph (150 mph)."
"Loetschberg is the longest land tunnel, surpassing Japan's 26.5 kilometer (16.4 mile) Hakkoda Tunnel. But it is shorter than the 53.9-kilometer (33.5-mile) undersea Seikan Tunnel, also in Japan, and the 50.4-kilometer (31.3-mile) Channel Tunnel connecting France and England."
"The Loetschberg was dug parallel to an even more ambitious project - the 57-kilometer (36-mile) Gotthard Tunnel, which will be the world's longest when it is completed in 2017."
FULL STORY: Swiss open world's longest land tunnel, cutting hours off Alpine travel
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