The world’s longest rail tunnel, running for 35 miles (57km) under the Swiss Alps, has officially opened.

The Swiss president, Johann Schneider-Ammann, said the tunnel, which it is hoped will ease transit through the heart of the continent, would “join the people and the economies” of Europe at a time of rising nationalism and border closures.
He spoke before European leaders made a ceremonial first journey through the Gotthard base tunnel. Passengers included the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the French president, François Hollande, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi.

While the tunnel was entirely funded by Switzerland, a non-EU member, the bloc’s transport commissioner, Violeta Bulc, hailed it as “a godsend” for the continent.

It runs from Erstfeld in the central Swiss canton of Uri, to Bodio in the southern Ticino canton.

Travel through the Alpine region, by rail or by road, has involved taking a zigzag and undulating route, and the tunnel was designed to offer a better option for both private travel and commercial freight.

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