Goddard tunnel

Mon Dec 12 23:51:46 EST 2016

Let's face it, Gordon. Railroads take the third row behind highways and
airports in the USofA. I wonder how much of our money went (goes) into rail
projects in other countries. Thanks for the article. I had forgotten how
long it has been since starting the project.
Charlie Long
Lynchburg

On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 6:04 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> This article is from the online *Railway *Age magazine.  It's a sad
> commentary on our country's de-emphasis of railroads to see that a small
> country like Switzerland can build the world's longest railway tunnel (35.3
> miles, double track) whereas the US still has to contend with the likes of
> the restrictive Amtrak tunnels under the Hudson River into New York and
> Amtrak's B&P tunnels in Baltimore (used by NS freight trains also).
> --Gordon Hamilton
>
>
>
> Thursday, December 08, 2016
> Gotthard Base Tunnel set to openWritten by  William C. Vantuono,
> Editor-in-Chief
> <http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blog/William-C.-Vantuono-Editor-in-Chief.html>
>
>    - Print
>    <http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/passenger/high-performance/gotthard-base-tunnel-set-to-open.html?print=1&tmpl=component>
>    - Email
>    <http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/component/option,com_mailto/link,aHR0cDovL3d3dy5yYWlsd2F5YWdlLmNvbS9pbmRleC5waHAvcGFzc2VuZ2VyL2hpZ2gtcGVyZm9ybWFuY2UvZ290dGhhcmQtYmFzZS10dW5uZWwtc2V0LXRvLW9wZW4uaHRtbD9jaGFubmVsPTU0JnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9UHVibGljYXN0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249MTItMDktMTYgUkdOIEdyb3VwIEImdXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9RnVsbCBBcnRpY2xl/tmpl,component/>
>    -
>
> [image: EuroCity at the South Portal of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.]
> <http://www.railwayage.com/media/k2/items/cache/5f01e501d390c99b296f0dc4679b63ea_XL.jpg>EuroCity
> at the South Portal of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.All photos:
> PRNewsFoto/Swiss Travel System AG
>
> Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016 is the opening of one of the world’s engineering
> marvels: the Gotthard Base Tunnel under the Swiss Alps, the world’s longest
> and deepest railway tunnel.
>
> The 35.3-mile-long (57 km) double-track tunnel will enable passengers to
> speed under the Alps in some 17 minutes, bringing northern and southern
> Switzerland closer together, reducing travel time by 30 to 40 minutes
> between German-language and Italian-language Switzerland. It is 7,546 feet
> (2,300 meters) beneath the Gotthard massif at its deepest point. The Swiss
> Federal Railways (SBB) has now finished exhaustive safety and technical
> tests.
>
> [image: Gottgard Collage]Why construct the Gotthard Base Tunnel? “The
> mobility requirements of Switzerland’s growing population have increased
> greatly over the past 100 years,” say officials. “Current forecasts
> indicate that the country’s transport sector will continue to expand. In
> addition, Switzerland’s strategic location at the crossroads of the
> continent makes it a highly important hub for European goods traffic. Swiss
> government policy is to ensure sustained mobility by increasing the public
> transport share of overall traffic and providing reliable basic services
> nationwide. Within this long-term program, protection of the environment
> and the population has been accorded high priority.
>
> “The NRLA (New Railway Link through the Alps) is one of four ambitious
> projects undertaken by the government, of which the Gotthard Base Tunnel is
> the flagship focal point. As a level transalpine railway link with few
> gradients, the tunnel complements Switzerland’s existing mountain rail
> routes. It will also enable higher traveling speeds and permit the use of
> heavy freight trains.”
>
> Construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel was financed initially through a
> nationwide vote in 1998, when the Swiss electorate approved funding for the
> construction of the NRLA. Voters backed the “FinöV” program for the
> long-term funding of public transport, through revenues generated by Value
> Added Tax (VAT), a performance-linked levy on heavy traffic, and a mineral
> oil tax.
>
> Wholly owned SBB subsidiary Alp Transit Gotthard constructed the Gotthard
> segment of NRLA. A general contractor was tasked with installing the
> railway systems and above-ground sections. The Transtec Gotthard Consortium
> (Alpiq, Alcatel-Lucent/Thales, Renaissance and Balfour Beatty Rail) handled
> planning, installation and commissioning of the railway systems. The
> construction work and installation of the railway infrastructure were
> completed by early June 2016. Alp Transit Gotthard then handed over the
> tunnel to the government and to operator SBB for final test runs.
>
> It has taken 23 years to construct the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The first
> examination of the geological fault zone in the Gotthard Massif was carried
> out in 1993 with the construction of an exploratory tunnel. The second NRLA
> construction site was opened three years later. The first drill-and-blast
> operation was undertaken in 1999. The first breakthrough in one of the
> tunnels was in October 2010, and 2011 saw excavation completed. Work on the
> infrastructure (including track, catenary, electricity supply,
> telecommunications and safety systems) ended with the handover to SBB on
> June 1, 2016 for the operational testing phase.
>
> With the construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, Switzerland implemented
> one of Europe’s most ambitious environmental protection projects. From
> concept to completion, construction was carried out as environmentally
> compatible as possible. Measures were taken to reduce the impact on people,
> wildlife, water and air. Alp Transit Gotthard said it “was in constant
> dialogue with environmental authorities in finding workable solutions.”
> Measures included environmentally compatible material transport to ensure
> clean air, strict guidelines concerning waste water, dust and noise
> protection, protection of flora and fauna as well as sustainable use of the
> stone extracted from the mountain.
>
> “The Gotthard Base Tunnel’s top priority is passenger safety,
> necessitating implementation of a modern safety concept,” official said.
> “The tunnel system consists of two directionally separated single-track
> tubes connected by cross passages located every 1,066 feet (32 meters). In
> an emergency these would serve as rapidly accessible evacuation routes into
> the other tube. At the one-third-way points of the tunnel at Faido and
> Sedrun, emergency-stop stations in both tubes are connected to the parallel
> tube through six connection tunnels. The way to these tunnels is indicated
> by signs, emergency lights, and handrails. In the event of evacuation,
> trained railway personnel will provide assistance. Overpressure ensures
> that the air remains smoke free. Fans provide fresh air in the emergency
> stop stations; hot fumes are sucked out through extraction openings.
> Travelers can then be collected in the opposite tube by an evacuation
> train.”
>
> The Gotthard Base Tunnel reduces travel times by 30 to 40 minutes,
> compared to the existing Alpine railway link over the Gotthard. Travel
> between Milan and Zurich, for example, is reduced from 4 hours, 3 minutes
> to 3 hours, 33 minutes. The existing Alpine railway link with its numerous
> bridges, loop tunnels and summit tunnel (built in 1882) will continue in
> service, but reduced to an hourly schedule, with a RegioExpress connecting
> with intercity trains in Erstfeld, Bellinzona and Lugano.
>
> The other piece of the NRLA is the Lötschberg Base Tunnel, which became
> operational in December 2007. Today, some 50 passenger trains and up to 60
> freight trains operate through the Lötschberg tunnel each day. By
> comparison, figures for the Gotthard Base Tunnel are up to 160 freight
> trains and 50 passenger trains daily.
>
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