Finally the world's longest "Gotthard-based tunnel" beyond the Seikan tunnel is finally completed

A railroad tunnel that longitudinally covers the Alps "Gotthard Bass TunnelFinally completed, it became the birth of the world's longest railway tunnel on behalf of Seikan Tunnel.

World's longest tunnel completed - Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-longest-tunnel-switzerland-2015-8

The longest railway tunnel in the world is a Japanese Seikan tunnel with a total length of 53.85 km, but since the total length of the Gotthard base tunnel is 57 km, the Seikan tunnel will hand over the seat of "the world's longest tunnel" . The test run of the Gotthard base tunnel railway is scheduled to take place on October 1 (local time), and we plan to start driving the first passenger train and freight train from June 2016.


The tunnel is "Blue bananaIt is called a population-densely populated area where approximately 111 million people live, which is called. The train can run in the tunnel at 247 km / h, and the time required between Switzerland and Italy is about 1 hour earlier than the conventional means of transportation, as well as 4000 tons of cargo which is twice the conventional route can be transported I will. Therefore, it is expected to have a big impact on trade along the route of north and south of Europe.


About 2000 workers took tunnel construction that began in 1999 and 31 million tons of earth and sand was carried out throughout the day and night. This is a huge amount equivalent to 2 million trucks.


The tunnel was very long and folding bicycles were used as workers moved through the pit.


The German tunnel excavator actually used was scraping a hard rock layer of about 30.5 meters every day. When excavating a layer of ultra-hard gneiss or granitic rock, it is necessary to cool with water to prevent overheating.


However, tunnel drilling work was dangerous and eight workers lost their lives during the construction period. A small monument is built inside the tunnel by the hands of our colleagues.


Then the Gotthard base tunnel is completed as the world's railroad tunnel. In June 2016, 500 thousand people will visit the opening festival festival scheduled to be held, among which only 1000 people will draw tickets for rail traveling through the Gotthard base tunnel for the first time.


In addition, how the safety of passenger trains is secured is explained in the following movie.

The journey through the tube - Safe passage through the Gotthard Base Tunnel - YouTube


If an abnormal situation such as smoke emanating from the baggage of a passenger occurs, the railway system automatically detects and switches to emergency operation ......


It will be told to the railroad company that it is promptly an emergency situation.


At the same time, the ventilation system starts operation with an appropriate amount of ventilation to discharge smoke and the like.


The lights are on in the immediate station. The station door is opened and the air sent from the ventilation system is sent into the tunnel.


When the train arrives at the station, passengers escape from the door which is open as it is, measures are taken to discharge the generated smoke from the exhaust port by the ventilation system.