The world’s longest rail tunnel, the 57km Gotthard base, will not be used by passenger trains for months after 23 carriages of a freight train derailed. The Swiss tunnel was ready in 2016 after 17 years of work and an investment of 12 billion dollars.
The accident happened on August 10, and the Swiss company SBB hoped that trains would resume running on August 16. However, studies have shown that the damage is much greater: there is destruction of 8 km of lines and 20,000 concrete sleepers need to be replaced.
16 cars of the derailed freight train are still in the tunnel. A few freight trains will be able to run soon, but passenger trains may not return for several months. Until then, passenger trains will run on the so-called “panoramic route”, which is an hour longer.
The Swiss tunnel was ready in 2016 after 17 years of work and an investment of 12 billion dollars.
The opening was attended by top politicians: Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande and Matteo Renzi.
Sources: Guardian, swissinfo.ch
Source: Hot News
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