![]() As a consequence of the relatively low bid, which contrasted poorly against the additional costs that were incurred during construction, Favre increasingly found himself at odds with Swiss politicians and investors alike. Ultimately, the final bid submitted by the Swiss engineer Louis Favre was selected as the best offer, receiving a contract to build the tunnel with an estimated cost of 2830 Swiss francs per meter. It was decided that the contract to build the tunnel ought to be subject to a competitive tendering process, during which a bidding war broke out between two engineering companies, based in Geneva and Italy respectively. The confidence of both investors and engineers was bolstered by the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, the construction of which had been substantially aided by the introduction of various modern innovations that made the prospects of building long tunnels more practical than they previously had been. Initially, there were difficulties encountered in securing sufficient finance for the project accordingly the financing was distributed among a wide variety of private and public investors from Switzerland (20M CHF), Italy (45M CHF) and the German Empire (20M CHF). Prior to its formation, surveys had been conducted that determined the optimum locations for either end of the prospective tunnel to be at Göschenen and Airolo. Īccordingly, the Gotthard Railway Company was established in 1871 to develop such a route, the company being initially operated under the stewardship of the accomplished Swiss industrialist Alfred Escher. Of all possible routes, Gotthard had historically been a favoured one for the passage of travellers by foot or packhorse. To achieve this, it was necessary for the line to traverse the Alps around its most central point. Even prior to the scheme's commencement, such a tunnel had been envisioned as a necessary but singular element of a wider railway network that would connect the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea together, opening up new commercial opportunities by facilitating the movement of goods and people between the ports of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany with those of Northern Italy, along with many of the major inland cities lying in between. The origins of the Gotthard Tunnel and its construction can be traced back to the widely-felt desire to improve interconnectivity between the European nations. Services are operated by the Swiss Federal Railways. The trip takes about seven to eight minutes by train. After two more kilometers, the border between the cantons of Uri and Ticino is passed after another five kilometres (3 mi), the tunnel ends at the southern portal near to Airolo (1,142 m or 3,747 ft). The tunnel rises from the northern portal at Göschenen (1,106 m or 3,629 ft) and the highest point (1,151 m or 3,776 ft) is reached after approximately eight kilometres (5 mi). When opened in 1882, the Gotthard Tunnel was the longest tunnel in the world. It was built as single bore tunnel accommodating a standard gauge double-track railway throughout. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Saint-Gotthard Massif in order to bypass the St Gotthard Pass. The Gotthard Tunnel ( German: Gotthardtunnel, Italian: Galleria del San Gottardo) is a 15,002.64-metre-long (49,221 ft 3 in) railway tunnel and forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. ![]() German: Gotthardtunnel, Italian: Galleria del San Gottardo
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