World’s longest railway tunnel

The Gotthard Base Tunnel, a 57km rail link under the Swiss Alps, allows trains to travel at up to 250km/h, reducing travel time across Europe

Gotthard Base Tunnel
Ceneri Base Tunnel: To open in 2020
SWITZERLAND
FRANCE
ITALY
GERMANY
AUSTRIA
ALPS
Bern
Zurich
Milan

Erstfeld: Northern portal
Amsteg
Sedrun
Faido
Bodio: Southern portal
Existing rail line
40km
25 miles

Altitude (m)
3,000
2,000
1,000
Erstfeld
Amsteg
Sedrun
Faido
Bodio

Gotthard Base Tunnel
Consists of two parallel single-track tubes, linked by emergency escape routes

Cost: $12bn
Faido station
Sedrun station
Sedrun Lift to ski resort
Erstfeld portal
Emergency station
Emergency station
Faido access tunnel
Cable tunnel
Bodio portal
Amsteg access tunnel
Tunnel arch: 9.5m diameter
40m

WORLD’S LONGEST TRAIN TUNNELS Kilometres

Gotthard Base Tunnel, Switzerland  Completion 2016 57

Brenner Base Tunnel, Austria-Italy Scheduled 2026 55

Seikan Tunnel, Japan* 1988   53.8

Channel Tunnel, France-UK* 1994 50

Lotschberg Base Tunnel, Switz. 2007 34.6

*Undersea tunnel

Sources: Alptransit, Gottardo2016