Editing Gotthard Base Tunnel (section)

===Background===
<!-- If you want to add more details not about the Base Tunnel, please go to the Gotthard Pass or Gotthard Railway page-->
{{see also|Gotthard Pass|Gotthard Railway}}
[[File:Nordportal Gotthard-Basistunnel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Aerial view of the [[Reuss (river)|Uri Reuss Valley]] and the {{convert|3073|m|ft|adj=mid|-high}} [[Bristen]] peak from the north portal. The historic routes on the Gotthard (road and railway) follow the Reuss upwards, which flows west of the Bristen.]]
Since the 13th century, the {{convert|2106|m|ft|adj=mid|-high|abbr=on}} Gotthard Pass has been an important trade route from northern to southern Europe. Control of its access routes led to the birth of the [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Swiss Confederacy]]. The Gotthard Pass is located halfway between [[Lake Lucerne]] and [[Lake Maggiore]]. It is the shortest link between the navigable [[Rhine]] and the [[Po (river)|Po]]. Before modern transport, the traverse of the pass took days, and snow makes it a challenge in winter.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tellier |first=Luc-Normand |date=2009 |title=Urban World History: An Economic and Geographical Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cXuCjDbxC1YC |location=Quebec City, Canada  |publisher=Presses de l'Université du Québec |page=314 |isbn=9782760522091}}</ref>

Quite late, compared to other current top-importance routes through the Alps (e.g. [[Simplon Pass|Simplon]], [[San Bernardino Pass|San Bernardino]], [[Brenner Pass|Brenner]], [[Mont Cenis]]), namely in 1830, the first Saint-Gotthard Pass road was established after centuries-long usage of a [[bridle path]]. From 1842 onwards, a daily course by the ''Gotthard Post'', a stagecoach drawn by five horses with ten seats, still took about 23 hours from [[Como]] to [[Flüelen]]. It would last until 1921.

{{multiple image| perrow = 2|total_width = 400
|header = Historic routes on the Gotthard
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|image1=Koller Gotthardpost 1873.jpg|alt1=|caption1='''Pass road'''<br />"The Gotthard Mail Coach" ([[Rudolf Koller]], 1873) on the [[Tremola San Gottardo|Tremola]]
|image2=SBB RABDe 500 Upper Meienreuss Bridge Wassen.jpg|alt2=|caption2='''Old vertex railway''' with SBB tilting intercity train at [[Wassen]]
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}}

In 1882, with the inauguration of the [[Gotthard Railway Tunnel]], the travel time between [[Altdorf, Switzerland|Altdorf]] and [[Biasca]] was reduced dramatically to only hours, though often accompanied with overnight stays in large [[Fin de siècle]]-hotels, for example in Biasca. In those days, it was still an adventure and it was only affordable to the rich. Electrification of the railway line in 1922 significantly reduced travel time again. Refilling water boilers of steam locomotives was no longer necessary. There were also the technical advantages of electrical engines and future technical improvements.

From 1924, car transport on trains through the railway tunnel began. The road between [[Göschenen]] and [[Airolo]] over the summit of the pass, comporting notably the [[Schöllenen Gorge|Schöllenen ravine]] and the [[Tremola San Gottardo|Tremola]], had countless hairpin turns and serpentine curves, dropping {{convert|1000|m|abbr=on}} in altitude. It posed a huge challenge for automobiles of those days. From 1953 onwards, the pass road was sequentially improved and expanded at several sections along the Gotthard route, finally ending in 1977 with the opening of an expressway fully circumventing the Tremola. In winter, however, due to the snow, cars could only cross the Gotthard on the train.

Transit time was further dramatically reduced with the opening of the [[Gotthard Road Tunnel]] and the finalization of the northern part of [[A2 motorway (Switzerland)|A2 motorway]] through the ''Urner Reusstal'' (in close proximity to the railway), with many additional tunnels (then leading from Basel to the Gotthard Road Tunnel), in 1980. With the completion in 1986 of the A2 motorway in the [[Valle Leventina]], the main valley leading from Airolo down to [[Bellinzona]], and the surmounting of the [[Monte Ceneri]] between Bellinzona and [[Lugano]] in 1983, finally a continuous motorway was established from the northern border of Switzerland in [[Basel]] to the southern border in [[Chiasso]], or the shortest motorway route from North-German [[Hamburg]] as far as South-Italian [[Sicily]], bringing down the competitiveness of the railway line.<ref>{{cite news |date=5 December 2016 |publisher=[[Radio Télévision Suisse]] |title=Trois heures en 20 ans, le temps gagné pour traverser l'Europe par le Gothard |url=https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/7708495-trois-heures-en-20-ans-le-temps-gagne-pour-traverser-l-europe-par-le-gothard.html |language=fr |access-date=5 July 2017 }}</ref> Passenger speed was also increased on the railway line with the use of tilting trains, notably the [[RABDe 500|ICN]], although maximum speed remaining far lower than on a modern straight high-speed line. Both modern motorway and historic railway rely on heavy rockfall and avalanche protection equipments and are exposed to harsh weather condition in winter.

After the opening of the auto tunnel, in 1980, traffic increased more than tenfold. The existing tunnel was at its capacity by 2013.<ref name="time">{{cite news |title=Switzerland Celebrates World's Longest Rail Tunnel |url=http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2026369,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022165153/http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2026369,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 October 2010 |last=Cendrowicz |first=Leo |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=20 October 2010 |access-date=11 April 2013}}</ref> A second tunnel will be built next to the first, following a national referendum.<ref name="GotthardRef">{{cite web |last=Jorio |first=Luigi |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/divisive-renovation-project_opposing-views-on-doubling-the-gotthard-tunnel/41873860 |title=Opposing views on doubling the Gotthard tunnel – SWI |website=Swissinfo.ch |date=6 January 2016 |access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.thelocal.ch/20160229/voters-give-green-light-to-new-gotthard-road-tunnel |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160301102231/http://www.thelocal.ch/20160229/voters-give-green-light-to-new-gotthard-road-tunnel |archive-date = 1 March 2016 |title = Voters give green light to new Gotthard road tunnel |publisher = The Local}}</ref> Construction started in 2021 and is scheduled to finish in 2027.

[[File:NEAT GBT engl crop.png|thumb|Relative location and size of Gotthard Tunnel (1882) and Gotthard Base Tunnel (2016), both shown in yellow. Open-air rail shown in red.]]
As early as 1947, engineer [[Eduard Gruner]] imagined a two-story base tunnel from [[Amsteg]] to Biasca, both rail and road, with a stop at Sedrun, to provide a faster and flatter passage through the [[Swiss Alps]]. Similarly to Gruner's idea, the GBT cuts through the [[Saint-Gotthard Massif|Gotthard Massif]] some {{convert|600|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} below the older tunnel. On the historic track only the Gotthard Railway trains up to {{convert|1300|t|e6lbs|abbr=on|lk=on}}<ref name="sbb">{{cite web |url=http://www.lokifahrer.ch/Lokomotiven/Loks-SBB/Re_4-4-II/SBB-Re_4-4-II.htm |title=SBB-CFF-FFS Re 420 locomotive |publisher=Lokifahrer.ch |type=private fan site |language=de |date=23 August 2010 |access-date=18 December 2017}}</ref> when using two locomotives or up to {{convert|1500|t|e6lbs|abbr=on}} with an additional [[bank engine]] at the end of the train are able to pass through the narrow mountain valleys and through [[Spiral (railway)|spiral tunnels]] climbing up to the portals of the old tunnel at a height of {{convert|1151|m|abbr=on}} above sea level. Since the GBT is in full service, standard freight trains of up to {{convert|3600|t|e6lbs|abbr=on}} are able to pass this natural barrier.

Because of ever-increasing international truck traffic, Swiss voters chose a shift in transportation policy in September 1992 by accepting the NRLA proposal. A second law, the ''Alpine Protection Act'' of February 1994,<ref name="price">{{cite journal |title= The Alpine Convention: A Model for Other Mountain Regions? |journal= Mountain Research and Development |volume= 20 |issue=2 |pages = 192–194 |publisher = Centre for Mountain Studies |last=Prince |first=Martin F. |location=[[Perth College UHI|Perth College]], UK |date=1 May 2000 |doi = 10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0192:TACAMF]2.0.CO;2 |doi-access = free }}</ref> requires a shift of as much tonnage as possible from truck transport to train transport.

The goal of both the laws is to transport trucks, trailers and freight containers through Switzerland, from [[Basel]] to [[Chiasso]], and beyond by rail to relieve the overused roads, and that of the [[Gotthard Road Tunnel|Gotthard]] in particular, by using [[intermodal freight transport]] and [[rolling highway]]s (where the entire truck is transported). The GBT substantially contributes to the requirements of both laws and enables a direct flat route from the ports of the [[North Sea]] (notably Rotterdam) to those of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] (notably Genoa), via the Rhine corridor.

Although the technical maximum speed is {{convert|250|km/h|abbr=on|round=5}} through the GBT, the maximal authorized speed has been reduced to {{convert|230|km/h|abbr=on|round=5}} for ecological and economical reasons, while the operating speed of passenger trains is restricted to {{convert|200|km/h|abbr=on|round=5}} in order to accommodate the freight traffic, with the possibility to accelerate up to {{convert|230|km/h|abbr=on|round=5}} in case of delay.<ref name=axe_NS_SaintGothard/><ref name=SBBoperation/><ref name=giruno/> At opening the GBT reduced travel times for trans-Alpine train journeys by about 40 minutes,<!--38 minutes in 2017--> and by one hour when the adjacent [[Zimmerberg Base Tunnel|Zimmerberg]] and [[Ceneri Base Tunnel]]s were completed. This is viewed as a revolution, especially in the isolated region of Ticino, which is separated from the rest of the country by the Alps and the Gotthard. The two stations of [[Bellinzona railway station|Bellinzona]] and [[Lugano railway station|Lugano]] (respectively named "Gate of Ticino" and "Terrace of Ticino") were entirely renovated for the opening of the GBT, among other improvements.{{CN|date=July 2023}}

As of 2016, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the [[List of longest tunnels|longest railway tunnel in the world]]. It is the third Swiss tunnel to bear this title, after the [[Gotthard Tunnel]] ({{convert|15|km|disp=or|abbr=on}}, 1882) and the [[Simplon Tunnel]] ({{convert|19.8|km|disp=or|abbr=on}}, 1905).<ref>Bernard Wuthrich, "Le Romand du Gothard", ''[[Le Temps]]'', Monday 1 June 2015, page 20.</ref> It is the third tunnel built under the Gotthard, after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel.