World's Longest, Deepest Rail Tunnel Opens In Switzerland (latimes.com) 220
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Los Angeles Times: More than 2,200 years after the commander from the ancient North African civilization of Carthage led his army of elephants and troops over Europe's highest mountain chain, the Swiss have completed another gargantuan task: burrowing the world's longest railway tunnel under the Swiss Alps to improve European trade and travel. European dignitaries on Wednesday inaugurated the 35.4-mile Gotthard Railway Tunnel, a major engineering achievement deep under the Alps' snow-capped peaks. It took 17 years to build at a cost of 12.2 billion Swiss francs ($12 billion) -- but workers kept to a key Swiss tradition and brought the massive project in on time and on budget. It also bores deeper than any other tunnel, running about 1.4 miles underground at its maximum depth. The thoroughfare aims to cut travel times, ease roadway traffic and reduce the air pollution spewed from trucks traveling between Europe's north and south. Set to open for commercial service in December, the two-way tunnel can handle up to 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day.
"Longest, deepest" (Score:2, Funny)
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Did you happen to notice it's called the "Gotthard" (got hard) tunnel?
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Trump will make something even longer and deeper in the US once elected.
And get Mexico to build and pay for it - along with the fence. Obviously, the tunnel will to go under said fence.
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Probably. But he'll do it somewhere in the great plains, cause the stupid europeans didn't realize that it's buch easier to build such a structure if you don't have to drill through a mountain range first.
Lies (Score:5, Funny)
Lies. All lies. There's no such thing as tunnels. Or Switzerland, for that matter.
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IKEA isn't Swiss.
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IKEA isn't Swiss.
Everybody gets those countries mixed up. It's the place that has all the naked bankers with huge boobs.
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Subtle troll is subtle.
(Either that, or bobbied doesn't know the difference between Switzerland and Sweden.)
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The number of people who don't is very large. Source: I'm Swiss and have been dealing with that my entire life.
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Hi. Dane here.
Remember when the muslims were burning YOUR flag instead of ours?
Good times.
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How're those dykes holding up? That kid still still plugging the leak and saving the country?
Those are those good people in our own universities, teaching queer theory instead of geography.
Re:Lies (Score:5, Funny)
Guten tag, mate. At least no one tells you to chuck a couple of Mozartkugel on the barbie.
Bonzer.
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The number of people who don't is very large. Source: I'm Swiss and have been dealing with that my entire life.
Meine Frau ist eine Baslerin.
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Isst den Kaas mit samt dem Teller hollaradiidüüjahuu
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It's a marketing gimmick to sell things like the moon landings and the space race was- Tang, wd40, pens that write upside down, computers, duck tape and all that.
Even though several of those existed before the space race and moon landings, you should ignore it all and run with it. Our reality can be whatever we want it to be as long as you believe hard enough.
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More evidence that bobbied doesn't really have a clue...
Tunnel Boring Machine (Score:5, Interesting)
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That's so boring.
Actually the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Score:3, Informative)
The Gotthard Railway Tunnel was built between 1871 and 1882, and was the world's longest rail tunnel at the time.
This is the Gotthard Base Tunnel (and there is a third tunnel, the Gotthard Road Tunnel).
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That Gothard really looks now like a Swiss cheese.
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"This is the Gotthard Base Tunnel (and there is a third tunnel, the Gotthard Road Tunnel)."
I have driven this. Yes, there's a freeway going through the heart of the Alps deep underground.
This is so non-American... (Score:3, Insightful)
... not only because they did it "on budget and in time", which can only mean they didn't go for the cheapest bidder [pinimg.com], but also because it's trains going through the tunnel, only!
Had this been done in proper US-style, that tunnel would have no place for trains, but one lane reserved to military vehicles and the cars of VIP ticket holders, then another lane for ordinary cars, on which a permanent traffic jam would take you 2 hours mininum to pass the tunnel, if only because of the mandatory TSA strip searching before entering.
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You forget the toll booth in the middle just before the rest stop.... Local currency, no credit and correct change ONLY!
Maybe not so on budget and on time... (Score:5, Informative)
I'm no expert on the AlpTransits project [wikipedia.org] (which includes the Gotthard Base Tunnel and a number of other new tunnels), but the whole project seems to have been on budget in part because they cut stuff. For example, the Loetschberg Base Tunnel [wikipedia.org], which is the second longest tunnel in this project, is opened but not complete. They just stopped part way through and declared it good enough (one bore is up and running -- I've been through it -- but the other isn't finished). Or, as wikipedia puts it:
Due to the soaring costs of the AlpTransit initiative, funds were diverted to the Gotthard Base Tunnel; and the LBT [Loetschberg Base Tunnel] is only half finished.
Even worse, work on the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel [wikipedia.org] is suspended -- possibly without plans to complete it.
The whole "on budget and in time" thing doesn't sound so miraculous in context: the Gotthard Base Tunnel is part of a larger project that is neither on time nor on budget. However, the Swiss government sure did a good job spinning it that way.
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I was actually pretty thrown for a loop the first time I went through the chunnel, which is also a train-only system. It totally makes sense, but threw me for a loop.
Re:This is so non-American... (Score:5, Informative)
Putting cars in there makes the whole project way more challenging. Trains you can supply with electricity to move and their own internal illumination is sufficient. If you put a large number of cars or trucks through there you have to have significantly stronger ventilation systems and you need to illuminate the tunnel to a much greater degree.
On top of that you need to factor in a much higher risk of crashes and hence fire risk, which means more escape tunnels, fire bunkers, and other systems that would otherwise not be required.
Add on to that that these tunnels are only 9m in diameter which is not wide enough for anything other than a single lane road. As a comparison the Clem7 tunnel in Brisbane is 12.5m in diameter to accommodate 2 lanes.
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I did know that. I meant each tunnel is only good for one lane. The Clem 7 example I used is a twin tunnel system, each tunnel is 12.5m in diameter though not even comparable in length.
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You attach high CFM turbine fans along the top of the tunnel spaced at intervals all pointing the same way. These have the effect of creating a breeze through the tunnel.
In comparison ventilating a tunnel like this is actually a LOT easier then ventilating an underground mine as all you need to do it move air from one end to the other.
This is what they look like - http://www.alpiqburkhalter.ch/... [alpiqburkhalter.ch]
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This is a looooooong tunnel, and trains aren't exactly clean (unless we're talking electric),
What other trains but electric are in widespread use in your area? We have a few Diesel trains for service (when electricity is down) or a few side tracks, but there is no reason to allow other than electric trains into that tunnel.
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An increase in fire risk does not mean that there was no risk in the first place. The risk of a fire in a train tunnel is significantly lower than the fire risk in a car tunnel. Both will have fire suppression systems, but the design requirements will be different.
Re: This is so non-American... (Score:5, Funny)
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Is that you, Donald?
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Pollution (Score:4, Insightful)
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I assume it's also a more direct route, or they wouldn't have gone through a mountain to build it.
Trains are also much more efficient than trucks.
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Indeed, trains produce less pollution than trucks, as they run on electrical propulsion
Really? You must be thinking of those things that carry a bunch of office workers into the city in the mornings. I assure you by far the largest proportion of freight trains in Switzerland (and indeed all of the EU) are diesel powered.
Mind you it is still orders of magnitude lower in emissions than using a diesel truck.
Re:Pollution (Score:5, Informative)
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Most freight trains do NOT start and end in Switzerland which let's face it is quite the tiny country. They may switch to electricity for your portion of the trip, but it's still diesel vs diesel for the vast majority of InterEuro freight. But hey as I said it's still far more efficient than trucks.
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According to Wikipedia fully 50% of all rail transport was carried by electric traction world wide. As Europe is dense and highly industrialised I would imagine the figure for European rail to be substantially higher, so "majority" of InterEuro freight being diesel can't be nearly true.
I can't find any numbers for Europe but again Wikipedia says that electrification in Europe is "widespread". Since freight has to run at higher speeds in Europe (more congested tracks) the added power from electrical drive al
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Lots of things are electrified, and you see lots of diesel locos driving on these electric lines. Simple reason is the longer you haul the more likely you are to find an area you can't cross with electricity. That's why you see 100% numbers for Switzerland despite them still using some diesel locos. Like wise in the Netherlands. The lines to the port of Rotterdam are all electrified and that's the major freight terminal, yet I rarely see an electric locomotive on them.
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No freight or passenger train, Swiss or foreign, will cross Switzerland on normal operation with a diesel locomotive, granted. There are railway cross-country agreement on this.
Exchanging locomotive on a station near the border was for a long time a usual process because historically the electrical locomotive was not designed to handle efficiently the different railway electrical standards (different frequency and voltage) used by each countries and the old Gotthard Tunnel needed special strong power electr
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The only diesel locomotives in Switzerland are either to maneuver on an few special small tracks no electrified that still exists (usually to reach private docks), or special emergency train (fire fighter train) that need to operate even in case on electric failure. In normal operation, you will never see a diesel locomotive on any train, freight or passenger, Swiss or foreign.
So yes, this have a major pollution and noise impact, especially on small valleys out there, and this is the major point that motiva
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Mass electrification of rail was a 1970s thing in a lot of the world.
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I think the problem is that the current railway, the Gotthardbahn, is already operating at capacity, and the freight that does not fit in it goes to the lorries. A massive amount of lorries.
I would make a joke about truckers being able to litter the road even if the trucks were electric, but taking into account that these are Swiss truckers, it wouldn't work.
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The vast majority of trucks on this axis are foreign trucks crossing the country, usually between Italy and Germany. There have to pay a significant tax to use the Swiss roads (that partially financed the new tunnel). When the new Gotthard Base Tunnel will be operating freight trains, the this tax will rise to a dissuasive level.
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I think you're right. This is one of the areas where the US is greener than Europe.
A much greater percentage of freight in America is carried by train than that carried by train in Europe. European trains are largely passenger, while US trains are largely freight (I've read that less than 10% of European freight is carried by train, versus 40%+ for the US). As we've seen over the last year, there's no such thing as clean diesel, and diesel trucks are notoriously dirty (not to mention clogging up highways, c
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According to this [europa.eu], trains accounted for 18.2% of freight in EU. But it seems to be varying a lot by country. The same page says that "between one third and two fifths of the inland freight transported in Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia was carried by rail in 2013; this was also the case in Switzerland."
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You completely missed the point: European freight trains in that region are almost exclusively (if not totally) powered by electricity. This make them a lot greener than than the dirty US diesel freight trains.
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European freight trains in that region are exclusively powered by electricity, that is generated manly by hydroelectric and some nuclear power stations.
This make your "clean diesel" theory a total joke on the subject...
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The thoroughfare aims to cut travel times, ease roadway traffic and reduce the air pollution spewed from trucks traveling between Europe's north and south. Set to open for commercial service in December, the two-way tunnel can handle up to 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day.
The cheapest and least polluting way to transport cargo over land is train. This also applies to people. So people taking the train instead of cars alone would definitely help with pollution. The tunnel also cuts down on travel time.
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There exist a road tunnel for almost the same route, but it would take more than 1 hour at 80-100km/h to make the same travel than the train is 20 minutes at near 250km/h also because the many road curves add to the distance. In addition the road tunnel and urban area are easily saturated, compared to the fact that the Swiss trains are usually on time.
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It doesn't necessarily have to be. I just did a search from NYC to LA for a random date (July 30th) and the fares were within $3 of each other. OK so technically Greyhound was still cheaper, but I think most would say they are close enough to say they are essentially the same price.
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You forget that we are talking about tunnels that cost far more than a road to build. Add to that that bus pass tunnel at 80km/h instead of 250km/h for the train. Security and reliability are also not comparable.
Trains are incredibly efficient (Score:3)
Even if these were diesel trains (they're actually electric), there would be a significant reduction in pollution because trains are incredibly efficient and trucks are not. All things being equal, a gallon of diesel fuel will move one ton of cargo over 200 miles on a railroad (or over 400 miles, depending on your reference [wikipedia.org]). Trucks are nowhere close to that efficient.
It's hard to overstate how efficient trains are at moving cargo; no other land method comes close. (You can only do better on boats/barges.)
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It's hard to overstate how efficient trains are at moving cargo; no other land method comes close. (You can only do better on boats/barges.)
I highly doubt that a boat or barge can be more efficient giving the energy loss to displace the water. Displacing air only use far less energy. In addition, a train front surface is ridiculously small, making it extremely aerodynamic.
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Exactly.
Add to that that in Switzerland trucks without special authorization are forbidden to drive at night and the week-end. This make a significant impact, especially on the highways.
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You are all right but about the fact that there is a road tunnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Swiss citizens voted early this year to build a new tube for it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
But when the new Gotthard Base Tunnel will operate freight trains, the tax for trucks that cross the country will raise to a dissuasive level.
Bizarre opening ceremony... (Score:4, Informative)
Among the performances was a topless dancer wearing giant wings who soared over orange-suited dancers as they crawled on the ground below.
At another point, humans dressed like bales of hay were seen swaying on a flatbed before running around on the floor.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... [huffingtonpost.com]
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Among the performances was a topless dancer wearing giant wings who soared over orange-suited dancers as they crawled on the ground below.
At another point, humans dressed like bales of hay were seen swaying on a flatbed before running around on the floor.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... [huffingtonpost.com]
Don't forget, this is Europe where people are not scared stiff by topless women and worry that their children become sexual predators because seeing a pair of nipples.
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For your understanding this part of the spectacle is a representation of the death planing over the tunnel workers and taking 9 of them during the 17 years of the project. This is an analogy of the raptors that fly in the region that take small animals like marmot that also live in that region.
Hotter than Hades? (Score:3)
Wikipedia tells me that temperature increases roughly by 25 degrees C per km of depth so, that would be about 58 degrees C... however apparently the actual temperature at that depth is 46 degrees. [wikipedia.org] So... hellishly hot, but not as hot as expected. What accounts for the difference, is the crust thicker there because of the weight of the alps?
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Ah, I see, the claimed 2.4km depth is the depth below the peak of the of the highest mountain peak the tunnel passes under. OK, now I'm impressed by the fact that the ground temperature increases significantly just by being deep inside a mountain, not deep below sea level as for example in a South African gold mine.
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Exactly, this make a lot of hot water. I don't know if there is a project for the Gotthard Base Tunnel but for the Lötschberg Base Tunnel the hot water is used to supply a sturgeon farm that produce Luxury Swiss Alp caviar, something impossible in natural condition. http://www.oona-caviar.ch/?lan... [oona-caviar.ch]
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Interesting.
Very wild guess: could it be because the mountains on top of the tunnel have more surface to radiate the heat away than a standard, flat terrain?
Bizzarre opening ceremony (Score:3)
+1 for digging world's most awesome tunnel, ever.
-1 for coming up with this. [youtube.com]
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The purpose of the spectacle is deliberately to show the fear, the belief, the death attached to that mountain. The massive, heavy, dirty, noisy and dangerous work of building the multiple tunnels over here that require discipline, determination, and some kind of abnegation. This is not funny, just to remain to the politics that watched the spectacle this was not an easy task, and definitively not as easy as watching this spectacle.
So I personally give a +1 for that spectacle that honors the performances of
You know what this means? (Score:2)
Now everyone wants to put a train in that tunnel.
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Can't speak for other countries' airports but Zurich is pretty well at capacity... or at least the people living around it are ;)
Re:aren't there airports in switzerland? (Score:4, Informative)
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If you ever have time to drive through the Gottard Pass tunnel, you will see a buttload of German and Dutch campers clogging the roads. No one has invented wings yet, for those critters.
My (German) girlfriend whines, moans, bitches and complains that the Swiss charge a 100€ fee for using their Autobahn. Hey, with all their tunnels, and the quality of their highways, it's a great value! Hats off to the Swiss!
Now, if they offered a Hannibal style trot over the Alps with on a elephant, hey, I'm all i
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Damn, that's better deal than what I get in the states.
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Well, not if you pump gas in Switzerland. We finance a lot of the roads through gas prices. Fortunately for y'all freeloaders, it usually is possible to pump gas outside the country and drive through ;). (I'm not saying it's cheaper in other countries, though, that's just a way to not have to pay for the roads ;))
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To match the freight and passenger capacity of high-speed trains, you'd need A LOT of flights. None of which will land in a city centre.
Re:aren't there airports in switzerland? (Score:5, Insightful)
A freight train can carry 10,000 tons, a 747 cargo plane can carry 140.
You could run 260 trains or 18,000 planes, which is going to be cheaper?
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*patent pending
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
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Do you know how much less efficient it is ship freight in an airplane? Your comment makes no sense economically and logically.
"Well, there's no easy way to ship products from China to the UK, so we're just going to fire them on rockets. That's gotta work better than slow ass boats!"
Re:aren't there airports in switzerland? (Score:5, Insightful)
why spend all that money for a tunnel when you can simply fly over the mountains?
One primary use for the tunnel is to keep freight off the autobahn, but because it's a base tunnel, running straight under the Alps, it will allow bullet passenger trains to rip right through from Germany to Italy in half an hour. The old Gotthard Tunnel was the big engineering accomplishment of a century ago, punching through a high pass over the Alps, but it still required that trains spiral up into the mountains to the tunnel entrance, and then spiral down into the valley on the other side.
'Base tunnels' of this type are being built to replace the other long-distance tunnels through high Alpine passes. It will mean that European rail will go from being way ahead of American rail to being ludicrously far ahead of American rail.
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[Gasps and heavy breathing echo in the chambers of commerce.]
Merkel: "We now have but one choice."
[Light appears from Merkel's staff, showing the startled and frightened faces of the EU Councillors.]
Merkel: "We must face the long dark of Swiss Alps. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than Italians, in the deep places of the world."
Merkel: "Quietly now. It's a 30-minute journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."
[Time passes. The EU Council enters a great cave
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Read the part about the 260 freight trains again.
That's a lot of freight. You'd probably have to take over the airport to fly in that much stuff.
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...why spend all that money for a tunnel when you can simply fly over the mountains?
Clearly you are a North American moron. We have a number of your species in our zoos here, we throw you Big Macs and cups of Starbucks.
North American? Do you even understand all the varied groups of people and countries that includes?
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Do you understand how much we Amercians are embarrassing ourselves? I shudder to think of what our reputation will be like overseas (or even at our borders) once we've finished voting.
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St Pierre ou Miquelon?
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On Slashdot, I always assume people are both.
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They are not genuinely stupid, they have to take pills.
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The Alps aren't in Africa. Slavery is illegal in Switzerland.
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There wasn't enough Swiss workers to do this project and a lot of them was coming for neighbour countries if not from more distant countries.
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Switzerland is actually doing relatively well, even compared to USA.
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Because this tunnel is the biggest part of the European freight transportation politic across the Alps. Back in 199x, this was a heavy and difficule negociation between the European Union and the Switzerland (that is not part of the EU).
More on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]