Gotthard railway

The Gotthard railway (German: Gotthardbahn; Italian: Ferrovia del Gottardo) is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. It is named for the Saint-Gotthard Massif, through which it passes. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between northern and southern Europe, especially on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor. Construction was financed by the Gotthard Railway Company (German: Gotthardbahn-Gesellschaft at Lucerne). The railway comprises an international main line through Switzerland from Basel or Zürich to Immensee to Chiasso, together with branches, from Immensee to Lucerne and Rotkreuz, from Arth-Goldau to Zug or Pfäffikon SZ, and from Bellinzona to Chiasso via Locarno and Luino. At Chiasso, the line connects to the Milan–Chiasso railway, which runs across the Swiss–Italian border. The main line, the second-highest standard railway in Switzerland, penetrates the Alps using the Gotthard Tunnel at 1,151 metres (3,776 ft) above sea level. The line then descends as far as Bellinzona, at 241 metres (791 ft) above sea level, before climbing again to the pass of Monte Ceneri, on the way to Lugano and Chiasso. The extreme differences in altitude necessitate the use of long ramped approaches on each side, together with seven spirals. Construction of the line started in 1872, with some lowland sections opening by 1875. The full line opened in 1882, following the completion of the Gotthard Tunnel. The line was incorporated into the Swiss Federal Railways in 1909 and electrified in 1922. The line has 36 tunnels totaling 31,216 meters. The approaches to the existing tunnel continue to restrict speed and capacity on this important international route, and in 1992 it was decided to build a new lower-level route on the Gotthard axis as part of the NRLA project. This route involved the construction of the new Gotthard Base Tunnel...