AlpTransit Rail Tunnels Exhaust Credit LineThe construction of the two transalpine rail tunnels across the Loetschberg and St Gotthard in Switzerland will be more expensive than planned. A parliamentary committee revealed that the bill for the tunnels across the Swiss Alps would cost an extra SFr700 million, bringing the total cost to SFr15.5 billion. The parliament approved a SFr12.6 billion budget in 1998, but costs have continued to rise. The committee called for the scrapping of some smaller tunnel projects, like the Hirzel and Zimmerberg tunnels, to help make up for the extra costs. The House of Representatives is due to vote on the additional credit in March. The Senate has already approved the proposal.The Federal Department of Transport expressed its surprise at the massive increase and said it wanted to find out why costs had spiralled out of control. Costs for the St Gotthard project have risen by SFr500 million because of geological problems, while the operators of the Loetschberg tunnel are having to fork out an additional SFr200 million for unplanned construction work. The 35 km Loetschberg tunnel is due to open in 2007. The new St Gotthard tunnel alone will be 57 km long, making it the longest rail tunnel in the world when it is completed in 2014. Visit www.blsalptransit.ch and www.alptransit.ch 08/04.