The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a railway tunnel under construction in Switzerland. With a planned length of 57 km (35 miles) and a total of 153.5 km (95 miles) of tunnels, shafts and passages planned, it will be the longest railway tunnel in the world upon completion, ahead of the current record holder, the Seikan Tunnel. The project is designed to feature two separate tunnels containing one track each. The tunnel is part of the Swiss AlpTransit project, also known as New Railway Link through the Alps NRLA which also includes the Lötschberg Base Tunnel between the cantons of Berne and Valais. Like the Lötschberg tunnel, it is intended to bypass winding mountain routes and establish a direct route suitable for high speed rail and heavy freight trains. On completion it is expected to decrease the current 3.5 hours travel time from Zürich to Milan by one hour. The two portals will be near the villages of Erstfeld, Canton Uri and Bodio, Canton Ticino. Completion has been projected for 2015 but due to delays the tunnel may only be completed as late as 2017. Nearby are two more St. Gotthard Tunnels: the 1881 railway tunnel and the 1980 road tunnel.
Length: 56,978 m (western tunnel ) 57,091 m (eastern tunnel)
Total length of all tunnels and shafts: 153.4 km
Begin of construction: 1993 (sounding drills), 1996 (preparations), 2003 (mechanical excavation)
End of construction: 2016 - 2017
Commissioning: 2015
Total cost: CHF 8,035 billion (US$ 6.428 billion)
Trains/day: 200-250
Volume of excavated rock: 24 million tons (13.3 million m³ or the equiv. of 5 Gizeh-pyramids)
Number of tunnel boring machines (TBM): 4 (2 southbound from Amsteg to Sedrun, 2 northbound from Bodio to Faido and Sedrun, section from Erstfeld to Amsteg will also be built with TBM, maybe the same used for Amsteg-Sedrun)
Total length: 440 m (incl. back-up equipment)
Total weight: 3,000 tons
Horse power: 5 MWatt
Max. excav. daily: 25-30 m (in excellent rock conditions)
Total excav. length by TBM: about 45 km
Manufacturer: Herrenknecht AG, Schwanau, Germany
