Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Opened in 2016, its two single track bores stretch 57 kilometres and carry trains 2,300 metres below the peaks. The figure is taken from Swiss Federal Railways, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a technology fact?

Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The Gotthard Base Tunnel runs under the Alps

Opened in 2016, its two single track bores stretch 57 kilometres and carry trains 2,300 metres below the peaks Four tunnel boring machines cut the bores through granite and gneiss, and the rock above reaches 2,300 metres, enough to squeeze the tunnel walls inward. The route is almost level because it avoids climbing over the mountains, which lets freight trains run faster with heavier loads. It took seventeen years to build and cost around twelve billion Swiss francs. It sits in Mondo's technology collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Swiss Federal Railways

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: tunnels, railways, engineering

The Gotthard Base Tunnel runs under the Alps: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Opened in 2016, its two single track bores stretch 57 kilometres and carry trains 2,300 metres below the peaks. The figure is taken from Swiss Federal Railways, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.