The world will see the launch of its longest rail tunnel on Wednesday, the design for which wasconceivedaround sevendecades ago.
Construction work on the tunnel has been an on going process since the last seventeen years. The 57km (35-mile) twin-bore Gotthard base tunnel will provide a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe, the BBC reported.
The sketch for this tunnel was first made in 1947 by Swiss engineer Carl Eduard Gruner but construction didn’t start until the year 1999, now in 2016 around 12 billion Swiss Francs later the train is all set to beinaugurated.
When the full service opens in December, the tunnel will shave the train journey from Zurich to Milan in northern Italy down to two hours and 40 minutes, roughly an hour less than it currently takes.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi are due to attend the grand opening.
"It is just part of the Swiss identity," federal transport office director Peter Fueglistaler told Reuters news agency.
"For us, conquering the Alps is like the Dutch exploring the oceans."
The completed tunnel travels up to 2.3 km below the surface of the mountains above and through rock that reaches temperatures of 46C.
When full services begin in December, the journey time fortravelersbetween Zurich and Milan will be reduced by an hour to two hoursand 40 minutes.
According to the Swiss rail service, it took 43,800 hours of non-stop work by 125laborersrotating in three shifts to lay the tunnel's slabtrack.
When it officially opens, the Gotthard will surpass Japan's 53.9-kilometerSeikan tunnel as the world's longest train tunnel. The 50.5-kilometerChannel Tunnel that links England and France will move to third place.