Loetschberg Base Tunnel Officially OpensThe Loetschberg rail tunnel has been officially opened by Swiss transport minister Moritz Leuenberger on 15th June, 2007. Leuenberger and other officials, including EU transport commissioner Jacques Barrot and German transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, boarded a 1,300-tonne goods train and soon arrived just after 10.30 am at the tunnel's north entrance at Frutigen, bursting through a paper banner covering the eastern tube and declaring "Loetschberg - connecting Europe" to the accompaniment of lights, fireworks and sound effects.They then were joined by around 1,200 Swiss and foreign guests on a special train to Visp, at the southern end of the construction. Midway through the tunnel, the train stopped at Ferden so officials could show off the emergency and maintenance area. Cellphone reception was strong throughout the ride, even at points where the tunnel was 1,980 metres below the mountain surface. The 34.6 km tunnel, which is set to be fully operational in December, is the longest rail tunnel in Switzerland and the third longest in the world. The Loetschberg was originally envisaged as a two-tunnel system. But budget cuts have meant that in parts the tunnel will consist of just one tunnel, so that trains going in opposite directions will have to share the track.The Loetschberg, which runs from Frutigen in the Kander valley to Raron in canton Valais, and the Gotthard are part of an overall plan by the Swiss government to create a more efficient rail network and help ease the heavy burden of transalpine traffic. The policy was approved by Swiss voters in 1992 and 1998. The Loetschberg is estimated to have cost CHF4.3 billion, up from the initial estimate of CHF3.2 billion. These cost overruns were due to project changes, new safety standards and difficult geology. Read E-News Weekly 40/2005, 16/2005, 4/2005, 41/2004, 30/2004, 15/2004, 12/2004 and 36/2003. The overall approved budget of CHF12.6 billion for the whole NRLA (New Rail Link through the Alps) project, which includes the Loetschberg, Gotthard and Ceneri tunnels, could well rise to CHF24 billion. Click here. The second AlpTransit tunnel through the Gotthard Pass, 57 km long, is under construction and will not be commissioned until 2017-18. The first goods trains use the tunnel since 16th June. A full passenger service will start from 9th December, 2007. Around 42 passenger trains (30 between Bern and Valais and 12 to and from Milan) and up to 80 goods trains will use the new high speed link on a daily basis, with 40 more continuing to take the old rail route via Kandersteg and Goppenstein. The Loetschberg will bring cantons Bern and Valais closer together, shaving travel time by a third between the capital and Brig, and shortening the journey between Germany and Milan by an hour. Freight, car shuttle and passenger trains will thunder through the Loetschberg tunnel at speeds of up to 250 km per hour, bringing Basel, northern Switzerland and Milan, northern Italy closer together in three hours and 45 minutes. A locomotive pushes a freight train out of the tunnel, during the inauguration of the Loetschberg railway runnel in Frutigen, Switzerland This is a gain of 30 minutes. Seven more million tonnes of freight will transit through the tunnel, which represents 500 40-tonne trucks (or 180,000 trucks per year). Nowadays, 1.2 million trucks cross the Swiss Alps every year. Click here, here, here, here, here and ch/18. Read E-News Weekly 15/2006, Visit www.blsalptransit.ch 25/07.