Gotthard Tunnel: World's longest rail tunnel officially opens with eclectic opening ceremony

The world's longest tunnel has officially been opened in Switzerland with an elaborate ceremony featuring an eclectic range of performance art.

Trapeze artists dressed as construction workers, a horse and carriage and other theatrics traced the history of the 57-kilometre tunnel's construction as part of the opening ceremony.

The trailblazing rail passage under the Swiss Alps aims to ease transit through the heart of Europe.

With political unity on the continent shaken by a massive influx of asylum seekers and the looming threat of Britain's EU departure, Swiss President Johan Schneider-Amman said the tunnel would "join the people and the economies" of Europe.

He spoke before the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) made its ceremonial first run with European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on board.

The European leaders hailed the project as an inspiration for all who want to live the dream of people circulating freely.

"I would like to see what binds us and understand how to use it. That is what the Gotthard Tunnel symbolises," Ms Merkel said.

She later said in a media interview it was "marvellous" to think about taking a journey with 2,000 metres of mountain rock above her head.

Tunnel to facilitate quicker travel, more efficient rail freight

The tunnel runs from Erstfeld in the central canton of Uri, to Bodio in the southern Ticino canton.

Travel through the Alpine region, by rail or by road, has long-required taking a zigzag and undulating route.

The GBT was designed to offer a better option for both private travellers and commercial freights.

When the full service opens in December, the tunnel will shave the train journey from Zurich to Milan in northern Italy down to two hours and 40 minutes, roughly an hour less than it currently takes.

It should also make rail freight more efficient — partly by supporting heavier cargo, which should reduce the number of smoke-spewing lorries on the roads, in turn improving traffic and curbing pollution.

The number of daily rail passengers is expected to increase from the current rate of 9,000 people to 15,000 by 2020, according to the Swiss federal railway service.

Light at end of tunnel after 17 years' work

The rough design for a rail tunnel under the Gotthard Pass was first sketched by Swiss engineer Carl Eduard Gruner in 1947.

But bureaucratic delays, concerns over the cost and other hurdles pushed back the start of construction until 1999.

The work took 17 years at a cost of more than 12 billion Swiss francs ($16.78 billion).

According to the Swiss rail service, it also took 43,800 hours of non-stop work by 125 labourers rotating in three shifts to lay the tunnel's slab track.

The ambitious venture was largely made possible by technical advances in tunnel-boring machines, which replaced the costly and dangerous blast-and-drill method.

The primary machine used to make the Gotthard tunnel was roughly 410 metres long and functioned like a mobile factory.

It cuts through rock and throws the debris backwards while simultaneously placing the pre-formed segments of concrete that form the shape of the tunnel — a separate system grouts the pieces together.

AFP/Reuters