ZURICH — The world’s longest and most expensive railway tunnel opens on Wednesday in Switzerland. <br /> <br />The Gotthard Base Tunnel originates in Erstfeld in the canton of Uri and ends in Bodio in the canton of Tessin. <br /> <br />Stretching 57 kilometers long, it will overtake Japan’s Seikan Tunnel and the Channel Tunnel between England and France as the world’s longest. <br /> <br />At 2.3km under the Alps, it will also be the deepest railway tunnel in the world. <br /> <br />The tunnel uses a system of two one-way tracks, linked by emergency escape routes. Trains travel on an almost entirely flat track and are able to reach maximum speeds of 250 kilometers per hour. <br /> <br />The tunnel will cut the train journey time between Zurich and Milan by one hour to just about three hours. <br /> <br />The tunnel will be also used for freight trains. About 260 freight trains will be able to use the tunnel per day, compared to a maximum of 180 trains using the current route. <br /> <br />It is hoped that the tunnel will reduce the Alpine road traffic and consequently reduce CO2 emissions.
