Zurich : Switzerland will open the world’s longest railway tunnel beneath the Saint-Gotthard Massif Mountain on Wednesday, DPA reported.
With a length of 57 kilometers, the Gotthard Base Tunnel will snatch the world record from Japan’s 53.9-kilometre Seikan Tunnel, which connects the main island Honshu with the northern island of Hokkaido.
Public celebrations spanning several days are planned in conjunction with the tunnel’s opening, which costs $12.3 billion to build.
The first train will be driven through the new tunnel on June 1, and it will carry hundreds of citizens who won a lottery to get onboard.
A train carrying political leaders from Switzerland and abroad is scheduled to follow, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi expected among the guests.
However, regular train service is not expected to start until shortly before the end of the year. Until then, some 3,000 test drives are scheduled through the tunnel.—AG/IINA