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World's Longest, Deepest Rail Tunnel Opens In Switzerland (latimes.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Los Angeles Times: More than 2,200 years after the commander from the ancient North African civilization of Carthage led his army of elephants and troops over Europe's highest mountain chain, the Swiss have completed another gargantuan task: burrowing the world's longest railway tunnel under the Swiss Alps to improve European trade and travel. European dignitaries on Wednesday inaugurated the 35.4-mile Gotthard Railway Tunnel, a major engineering achievement deep under the Alps' snow-capped peaks. It took 17 years to build at a cost of 12.2 billion Swiss francs ($12 billion) -- but workers kept to a key Swiss tradition and brought the massive project in on time and on budget. It also bores deeper than any other tunnel, running about 1.4 miles underground at its maximum depth. The thoroughfare aims to cut travel times, ease roadway traffic and reduce the air pollution spewed from trucks traveling between Europe's north and south. Set to open for commercial service in December, the two-way tunnel can handle up to 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day.
Giggity.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Lies. All lies. There's no such thing as tunnels. Or Switzerland, for that matter.
A few years ago when the TBM knocked through the last bit of rock in this tunnel, this cool video of the event might even have been posted on slashdot (can't remember where I ran across it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Can't speak for other countries' airports but Zurich is pretty well at capacity... or at least the people living around it are ;)
The Gotthard Railway Tunnel was built between 1871 and 1882, and was the world's longest rail tunnel at the time.
This is the Gotthard Base Tunnel (and there is a third tunnel, the Gotthard Road Tunnel).
Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
It's in metric country, doofuses.
... not only because they did it "on budget and in time", which can only mean they didn't go for the cheapest bidder, but also because it's trains going through the tunnel, only!
Had this been done in proper US-style, that tunnel would have no place for trains, but one lane reserved to military vehicles and the cars of VIP ticket holders, then another lane for ordinary cars, on which a permanent traffic jam would take you 2 hours mininum to pass the tunnel, if only because of the mandatory TSA strip searching before entering.
...why spend all that money for a tunnel when you can simply fly over the mountains?
Clearly you are a North American moron. We have a number of your species in our zoos here, we throw you Big Macs and cups of Starbucks.
And flying is so luxurious!
Simply put, freight capacity.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
"up to 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day."
That's a lot of flights.
Just like your Mom!!!
If you ever have time to drive through the Gottard Pass tunnel, you will see a buttload of German and Dutch campers clogging the roads. No one has invented wings yet, for those critters.
My (German) girlfriend whines, moans, bitches and complains that the Swiss charge a 100€ fee for using their Autobahn. Hey, with all their tunnels, and the quality of their highways, it's a great value! Hats off to the Swiss!
Now, if they offered a Hannibal style trot over the Alps with on a elephant, hey, I'm all in . . . that would be cool!
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
At first I wasn't clear on how the tunnel would reduce pollution. Won't the bad gases just come out of the tunnel? But of course, the idea is the tunnel will shift cargo transport from trucks to trains. Presumably trains produce less pollution. Or at least less trash littering the "pristine Swiss landscape"
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
To match the freight and passenger capacity of high-speed trains, you'd need A LOT of flights. None of which will land in a city centre.
A freight train can carry 10,000 tons, a 747 cargo plane can carry 140.
You could run 260 trains or 18,000 planes, which is going to be cheaper?
No, because Europe isn't big enough to be seen from Mars.
Reduction of GHG production, for one. A freight train can carry several planeloads of freight using a tiny fraction of the fuel the planes would burn. Ground transportation is always more efficient than air. The only reason to use air for freight is speed.
I can't tell whether you're trolling or genuinely stupid...
...why spend all that money for a tunnel when you can simply fly over the mountains?
Clearly you are a North American moron. We have a number of your species in our zoos here, we throw you Big Macs and cups of Starbucks.
North American? Do you even understand all the varied groups of people and countries that includes?
Hey, at least he isn't sexist!
C'est clair que Anonymous Coward est un osti de moron.
Among the performances was a topless dancer wearing giant wings who soared over orange-suited dancers as they crawled on the ground below.
At another point, humans dressed like bales of hay were seen swaying on a flatbed before running around on the floor.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
On Slashdot, I always assume people are both.
The fee is actually 40 CHF (~36 euros) for 1-year
I hate you.
Wikipedia tells me that temperature increases roughly by 25 degrees C per km of depth so, that would be about 58 degrees C... however apparently the actual temperature at that depth is 46 degrees. So... hellishly hot, but not as hot as expected. What accounts for the difference, is the crust thicker there because of the weight of the alps?
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
I'm no expert on the AlpTransits project (which includes the Gotthard Base Tunnel and a number of other new tunnels), but the whole project seems to have been on budget in part because they cut stuff. For example, the Loetschberg Base Tunnel, which is the second longest tunnel in this project, is opened but not complete. They just stopped part way through and declared it good enough (one bore is up and running -- I've been through it -- but the other isn't finished). Or, as wikipedia puts it:
Due to the soaring costs of the AlpTransit initiative, funds were diverted to the Gotthard Base Tunnel; and the LBT [Loetschberg Base Tunnel] is only half finished.
Even worse, work on the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel is suspended -- possibly without plans to complete it.
The whole "on budget and in time" thing doesn't sound so miraculous in context: the Gotthard Base Tunnel is part of a larger project that is neither on time nor on budget. However, the Swiss government sure did a good job spinning it that way.
Do you know how much less efficient it is ship freight in an airplane? Your comment makes no sense economically and logically.
"Well, there's no easy way to ship products from China to the UK, so we're just going to fire them on rockets. That's gotta work better than slow ass boats!"
Bye!
Airtrains!*
*patent pending
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
They are not genuinely stupid, they have to take pills.
So, the Swiss managed to do this for $12b ... and how much did the Big Dig cost?
Sure it is.
Damn, that's better deal than what I get in the states.
227-3517
+1 for digging world's most awesome tunnel, ever.
-1 for coming up with this.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Do you understand how much we Amercians are embarrassing ourselves? I shudder to think of what our reputation will be like overseas (or even at our borders) once we've finished voting.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
No, it is not. As seen from Mars, and at its closest approach to Earth, Earth is seen as a tiny disk approximately 1 arc-minute in diameter - far too tiny to see individual continents, let alone any gigantic lettering on them. Seeing the surface detail of other planets requires the use of at least a pretty darn good telescope, but then it's not obviously visible in the first place, and so there is no point.
why spend all that money for a tunnel when you can simply fly over the mountains?
One primary use for the tunnel is to keep freight off the autobahn, but because it's a base tunnel, running straight under the Alps, it will allow bullet passenger trains to rip right through from Germany to Italy in half an hour. The old Gotthard Tunnel was the big engineering accomplishment of a century ago, punching through a high pass over the Alps, but it still required that trains spiral up into the mountains to the tunnel entrance, and then spiral down into the valley on the other side.
'Base tunnels' of this type are being built to replace the other long-distance tunnels through high Alpine passes. It will mean that European rail will go from being way ahead of American rail to being ludicrously far ahead of American rail.
Given the way Europe is going, maybe it should be called the Taggart Tunnel.
Do you understand how much we Amercians are embarrassing ourselves? I shudder to think of what our reputation will be like overseas (or even at our borders) once we've finished voting.
I am an American and I don't speak for all the idiots here that are trying to put idiots like Trump in office. Make no mistake, I do not give a shit what people at the borders or overseas think of the idiots in this country because they will not be able to sustain themselves in the long term. America is going to be taken back by the people that are not about profiting from political strife and drama but by the progress of American engineering and scientific excellence. You can either take that at face value or realize after the fact you should have when I told you to. Choice is yours.
Not that's particularly relevant wrt the Swiss, but "lack of infrastructure" such as roads or railroads going exactly where you need them, are also pretty valid reasons for transporting stuff by air.
If you ever have time to drive through the Gottard Pass tunnel, you will see a buttload of German and Dutch campers clogging the roads. No one has invented wings yet, for those critters.
My (German) girlfriend whines, moans, bitches and complains that the Swiss charge a 100€ fee for using their Autobahn. Hey, with all their tunnels, and the quality of their highways, it's a great value! Hats off to the Swiss!
Now, if they offered a Hannibal style trot over the Alps with on a elephant, hey, I'm all in . . . that would be cool!
We need to convince Trump, instead of building a wall to build a train tunnel like this through Mount saint Helens.. because that is such a great nature area and it leads to to the oil fields of Canada and Alaska so we need a tunnel going through Mount St Helens. If they do this.. it will be a sign that they have taken America back!
Unless they dig too far, and too deep. :>
We can't do worse than Justin Trudeau.
Now everyone wants to put a train in that tunnel.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
Read the part about the 260 freight trains again.
That's a lot of freight. You'd probably have to take over the airport to fly in that much stuff.
Even if these were diesel trains (they're actually electric), there would be a significant reduction in pollution because trains are incredibly efficient and trucks are not. All things being equal, a gallon of diesel fuel will move one ton of cargo over 200 miles on a railroad (or over 400 miles, depending on your reference). Trucks are nowhere close to that efficient.
It's hard to overstate how efficient trains are at moving cargo; no other land method comes close. (You can only do better on boats/barges.)
The Alps aren't in Africa. Slavery is illegal in Switzerland.
It's because of the cheese. The most popular (widely sold) "Swiss" cheese in the US is Jarlsberg, which comes from Sweden*.
*Well, actually Norway. But what's the difference?
Actually that's something most people don't think about. This is a looooooong tunnel, and trains aren't exactly clean (unless we're talking electric), so how do you keep stuff from settling in the tunnel and creating noxious pockets? Around here one just has to look at fences or shrubs near a track and one side is pretty much black from accumulated soot over time.
Motion of the trains themselves probably helps somewhat but it's still going to get kinda dirty in there unless there's a good maintenance plan.
Well, not if you pump gas in Switzerland. We finance a lot of the roads through gas prices. Fortunately for y'all freeloaders, it usually is possible to pump gas outside the country and drive through ;). (I'm not saying it's cheaper in other countries, though, that's just a way to not have to pay for the roads ;))
Yeah, and after they use it for awhile, trapped heat is probably going to add to that. Even electric generates heat, and a lot of that is going to build up.
Why there is EU flag symbol waving next to an article about Swiss achievement?
Cayenne8 has been delayed.
He asked me to say that they should have built a road instead, because trains are for faggots and communists.
Nitpick: in Europe, a typical freight train carries more like 4000 tons, not 10k. 10k trains are the multi-mile thingies you guys run across the Great Plains in the US. Here, we are a bit more limited w/r to train length, and some other factors. Your point is of course still valid, though.
[Gasps and heavy breathing echo in the chambers of commerce.]
Merkel: "We now have but one choice."
[Light appears from Merkel's staff, showing the startled and frightened faces of the EU Councillors.]
Merkel: "We must face the long dark of Swiss Alps. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than Italians, in the deep places of the world."
Merkel: "Quietly now. It's a 30-minute journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."
[Time passes. The EU Council enters a great cavern.]
[Merkel rests her hand upon a rock with a dark, silver veins running through it.]
Merkel: "The wealth of Switzerland was not in gold or jewels"
[The Chancellor tilts her staff down towards a clock.]
Merkel: "but Time."
There wasn't enough Swiss workers to do this project and a lot of them was coming for neighbour countries if not from more distant countries.
the bombs start flying. Probably safer than NORAD.
St Pierre ou Miquelon?
We just had 10 years of someone worse. Harper made Tony Abbott look good on the environment. That's like making George W Bush look like a member of Mensa.
I'll wait until it gets to plaid.
Isn't the most important thing here the fact that the Swiss are bad ass? If Trump wins. He should hire the Swiss to complete the wall. If someone else wins they should hire the Swiss to build for them. Nothing else to see here. It's called capitalism. It goes to the top of the charts no matter what, because it only deals with the best. I'm kinda mad at myself because I'm learning these things late in life. You have to be the absolute best. Strive for it. Be it and you will live forever in history. Come in second and you will make billions of dollars. 1000th place equals $20,000 a year to be mediocre. Just be like the Swiss, rigid perfection. No more slop.
I give 0 fucks about whether we're "embarassing ourselves"; it's all about whether we're happy and successful. Reputation barely figures into that. Sadly, we've had a recent trend of trying to emulate Europe, which has been making us less happy and successful, like Europe.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
I give 0 fucks about whether we're "embarassing ourselves"; it's all about whether we're happy and successful. Reputation barely figures into that.
Ugh. Common American ignorance bites us again.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Ugh, people saying "we're not happy and successful, but at least we have this arbitrary thing X that we've decided is important" strike again.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
To be fair, the Rockies are a bit bigger than the Alps.
Québec
All the countless countries like...the US and Canada?
Fifty years ago, Drs. Gordon T. Danby and James R. Powell of Brookhaven National Labs on Long Island, New York, invented first-generation Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SC MagLev) Rail, using dipole magnets. This was used for the current JR Central MagLev system in Japan. Since then, they have developed their far-superior second-generation system, using quadrupole magnets. In this system, the vehicles are not so much levitated above the rail, but suspended by the sides of the rail, so that any effort to move the vehicle up, down, or to the left or right, elicits strong restoring forces, meaning it can resist all but the strongest winds. Also, since the gap between the rail and the vehicle is about 4" (10 cm), if the rail gets iced up,it is only necessary to de-ice it to a depth of about 2½" (6 cm). Thus, second-generation MagLev is almost impervious to weather. Also, this MagLev system can handle the steep grades needed when crossing a mountain. With external propulsion power, as much energy as is needed can be used to raise each vehicle over the mountain, and most all that energy would be recovered as it descends the mountain on the other side. Thus, you could have ordinary MagLev vehicles, some as small as individual passenger cars, that could cross over the mountains on open-air MagLev monorails. For details, see www.LeviCar.com/, with links to Danby and Powell's work in Group A (Antecedents and Allies). Tunnels are expensive and of limited capacity. MagLev rails are a lot cheaper, and just as good.
I'll wait until it gets to plaid.
I'm reserving use of that term for when they implement maglev.
That's cheaper than the NYS Thruway, which is nearly flat.