BIGGEST RAILWAY TUNNELS OF THE WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, 8 September 1934, Page 15 (Supplement)

BIGGEST RAILWAY TUNNELS OF THE WORLD

Man Burrows Way Through Great Mountain Ranges

■ r r'O SATISFY man’s demand for shorter routes between world centres, builders of great tunnels continue to cut through mountains and to tame dangerous currents. Recently Mussolini dedicated the world’s longest double-track tunnel, the 11 1-3 mile bore through the Italian Apennines, which penetrates the mountainous barrier between the Provinces of Emilia and Tuscany. And some time ago plans were announced to pierce Mont. Blanc to provide a new and speedier motor link between France and Italy. Negotiations for this bore under Europe’s great mountain peak were begun several years ago, but were abandoned because of the difficulty of financing the project. It is reported that the scheme is again taking definite shape, and that detailed plans have been received favourably by the French and Italian Governments. The proposed tunnel, eight miles long, would connect Chamonix, France, with Courmayeur, Italy. Three-quarters of a century have elapsed since the Mont Cenis tunnel from Modane, France to Bardonecchia, Italy, was started. Not until a decade and a-half after the first blast was set off was the seven-mile artery opened for railway traffic. Since those days new machinery and new methods have speeded up

tunnel building. A year after the Mont Cenis tunnel was opened the famous St. Gothard tube was begun, and nine years later the first locomotive made a journey over the

nine-mile underground course between Goschenen and Airolo in Switzerland. Shorter tunnels dot this renowned scenic route between Lucerne and Milan, which follows the St Gothard Pass and other Alpine panoramas. The Simplon tunnel, still the longest in the world, with its 12 1-3 miles stretch, was completed in 1905. This two-tunnel road through the Alps connecting Brique, Switzerland, with Iselle, Italy, though more than three miles longer than the St. Gothard, took but seven years to build. The greatest depth to which the Simplon carried was 7005 ft.