Longest Tunnels in the World
My latest trip to Italy consisted of a very long and tiresome 16 hour drive from London to Milan, passing through 5 countries over 825 miles. During our road trip, we happen to pass through many tunnels some which seem to never end. Having never been a big fan of tunnels (the film Daylight didn’t help!), I tried to think of other things whilst driving through them to ease my phobia. Instead, I ended up wondering what the world’s longest tunnel was. It just so happens I passed through a couple of them on my holiday…
Channel Tunnel
Probably one of the most famous tunnels in the world! With a length of 31.4 miles long, this great piece of human engineering carried 17 million passengers from Folkestone to Calais in 2010 alone. The tunnel also carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-on/roll-off vehicle transport—the largest in the world—and international rail freight trains. Unfortunately on my return journey, the car in front of me on the Eurotunnel Train had broken down (had to be a Jaguar with an automatic transmission so it couldn’t even be pushed!) and was stuck for an additional half an hour with 5 carriages of cars behind me who were full of frustrated French and English men! Needless to say, I was just relieved it wasn’t my car!
Channel Tunnel Eurotunnel
Gotthard Road Tunnel
A new tunnel experience for me! At 10.5 miles long, this is the longest tunnel I have ever driven through by car! It is the third-longest road tunnel in the world after Norway’s Lærdal Tunnel (24.5 km), and China’s Zhongnanshan Tunnel (18 km). The St. Gotthard tunnel forms part of the A2 motorway in Switzerland, running south from Basel through the tunnel down to Chiasso on the border with Italy. Currently under construction, the Gotthard base tunnel due for completion in 2017 will be the longest tunnel in the world at 35.4 miles long. Fortunately for me it won’t be a tunnel I will have to drive through – instead it will be a rail link between Zurich and Milan that will allow passengers to travel between both cities in less then three hours.
Gotthard Tunnel Switzerland
Have you been through any one of these longest tunnels in the world? Do you prefer your flying or driving to your holidays in Europe? Why not go on a road trip once in a while and you might just see the light at the end of the tunnel…eventually!
Category: Experiences
