AlpTransit Gotthard has completed the track laying work on the 57km-long Gotthard Base Tunnel, which is said to be the world’s longest railway tunnel.
The tunnel is being built to give way for diesel locomotives, which will connect Switzerland with Italy.
Within the 39-month construction period, AlpTransit Gotthard has used around 131,000m³ of concrete, transported 380,000 monolithic sleepers into the tunnel, and laid 290km of Sonneville Low-Vibration track.
Transtec Gotthard CEO Marco Hirzel said: "Installing the railway infrastructure systems in the world’s longest railway tunnel is a very challenging task.
"Only thanks to the collaboration of all of the approximately 720 people, who are working on this project, can we achieve our goal of punctual handover of the tunnel."
Test operations in the tunnel will start in autumn 2015 and the tunnel is expected to enter service in June 2016.
However, integration into the Swiss Federal Railway (SFR) network with scheduled train services will only take place in December 2016.
Meanwhile, excavation work in the Ceneri Base Tunnel is currently in progress with 85% of the entire tunnel system has already been cut.
With the approval from the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the planning and implementation of the railway infrastructure systems will start soon.
The opening of the Ceneri Base Tunnel for the commercial operations is expected to start in December 2019.
Image: The Gotthard Base Tunnel will connect Switzerland with Italy. Photo: courtesy of AlpTransit Gotthard.
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