The world's longest railroad and road tunnels 2018
The statistic represents the world's longest railroad and road tunnels as of May 2018. The Channel Tunnel linking the United Kingdom and France was ranked fourth, with a length of around 50 kilometers. In 2015, Switzerland completed the construction of the world's longest rail tunnel: Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Gotthard Base Tunnel – the world’s longest rail tunnel
Since the completion of construction in August 2015, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is Switzerland’s largest construction project and the world’s longest rail tunnel, with two parallel lines and a total length of 57 kilometers. Additionally, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is one of the deepest railway tunnel constructed to date; in some parts, 2,300 meters separate the tunnel from the earth’s surface.
The twin-tunnel is the result of 17 years of work, during which almost 2,000 workers excavated 28.2 million tons of rock and set up the tracks racking up 43,800 hours of nonstop work. It cost 12 billion U.S. dollars and the lives of eight workers. For the excavation part, a 410-meter-long German-made tunnel-drilling machine was used, which was as long as four football fields put together from one end to the other. 131,000 cubic meters of concrete were used for the installation of 290 kilometers of track lines.
The tunnel is expected to more than double the rail freight traffic along the North-South axis from approximately 20 million tons annually to up to 50 million tons, with 220 to 260 trains travelling every day and carrying up to 2,000 tons in carloads. The project aims at reducing the road tunnel accidents in the area. Regarding passenger traffic, the increase in ridership on the route can go up by 25 percent, mostly the 20 million people living in the area between the southern part of Germany and northern part of Italy will benefit from it. Train velocities will reach a speed of up to 250 km/h and reduce travelling time to two-and-a-half hours between Zurich and Milan.
Gotthard Base Tunnel – the world’s longest rail tunnel
Since the completion of construction in August 2015, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is Switzerland’s largest construction project and the world’s longest rail tunnel, with two parallel lines and a total length of 57 kilometers. Additionally, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is one of the deepest railway tunnel constructed to date; in some parts, 2,300 meters separate the tunnel from the earth’s surface.
The twin-tunnel is the result of 17 years of work, during which almost 2,000 workers excavated 28.2 million tons of rock and set up the tracks racking up 43,800 hours of nonstop work. It cost 12 billion U.S. dollars and the lives of eight workers. For the excavation part, a 410-meter-long German-made tunnel-drilling machine was used, which was as long as four football fields put together from one end to the other. 131,000 cubic meters of concrete were used for the installation of 290 kilometers of track lines.
The tunnel is expected to more than double the rail freight traffic along the North-South axis from approximately 20 million tons annually to up to 50 million tons, with 220 to 260 trains travelling every day and carrying up to 2,000 tons in carloads. The project aims at reducing the road tunnel accidents in the area. Regarding passenger traffic, the increase in ridership on the route can go up by 25 percent, mostly the 20 million people living in the area between the southern part of Germany and northern part of Italy will benefit from it. Train velocities will reach a speed of up to 250 km/h and reduce travelling time to two-and-a-half hours between Zurich and Milan.
