Simplon Tunnel

Simplon Tunnel
	Passing loop
Overview
Official name	German: Simplontunnel, Italian: Galleria del Sempione
Line	Simplon line, (Lötschberg railway line)
Location	Traversing the Lepontine Alps between Switzerland and Italy
Coordinates	46°19′26″N 8°00′25″E / 46.324°N 8.007°E – 46°12′25″N 8°12′04″E / 46.207°N 8.201°E
System	Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS)
Crosses	Lepontine Alps (Wasenhorn massif)
Start	Brig, canton of Valais, Switzerland 683 m (2,241 ft)
End	Iselle di Trasquera, Piedmont, Italy 633 m (2,077 ft)
Operation
Work begun	22 November 1898 (east tunnel), 1912 (west tunnel)
Opened	19 May 1906 (east tunnel), 1921 (west tunnel)
Owner	SBB CFF FFS
Operator	SBB CFF FFS
Traffic	Railway
Character	Passenger, Freight, Car Transport
Vehicles per day	Passenger: 70, Freight: unknown
Technical
Length	19.803 km (12.305 mi) (east tunnel), 19.823 km (12.317 mi) (west tunnel)
No. of tracks	Two single-track tubes
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrified	since 1 June 1906, 15 kV 16.7 Hz since 2 March 1930
Operating speed	160 km/h (Passenger trains) 120 km/h (Car shuttles)
Highest elevation	705 m (2,313 ft)
Lowest elevation	633 m (2,077 ft) (south portal)
Grade	2–7 ‰
Route map
	Legend
	length
	in m
	Simplon Railway
	to Lausanne
	Lötschberg Line
	to Bern via Lötschberg Base Tunnel
	Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
	to Zermatt
	Lötschberg Line
	to Bern via Lötschberg Tunnel
	Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
	to Andermatt & Göschenen
	Switzerland
	Italy
	Domodossola–Locarno railway
	to Locarno
	Domodossola–Novara railway
	to Novara
	Milan–Domodossola railway
	to Milan
	length
	in m
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

The Simplon Tunnel (Simplontunnel, Traforo del Sempione or Galleria del Sempione) is a railway tunnel on the Simplon railway that connects Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shortcut under the Simplon Pass route. It is straight except for short curves at either end.^[1] It consists of two single-track tunnels built nearly 15 years apart. The first to be opened is 19,803 m (64,970 ft) long; the second is 19,824 m (65,039 ft) long, making it the longest railway tunnel in the world for most of the twentieth century, from 1906 until 1982, when the Daishimizu Tunnel opened.

Culminating at a height of only 705 m (2,313 ft) above sea level, the Simplon Tunnel was also the lowest direct Alpine crossing for 110 years, until the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016. The tunnel has a maximum rock overlay of approximately 2,150 m (7,050 ft),^[2] also a world record at the time. Temperatures up to 56 °C (133 °F) have been measured inside the tunnel.^[3]

Work on the first tube of the Simplon Tunnel commenced in 1898. The Italian king Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the president of the Swiss Confederation (presiding the Federal Council of Switzerland for that year) Ludwig Forrer opened the tunnel at Brig on 19 May 1906.^[4] The builders of the tunnel were Hermann Häustler and Hugo von Kager. Work on the second tube of the tunnel started in 1912 and it was opened in 1921.

^ "The Simplon Tunnel". The Capricornian. Rockhampton, Qld: National Library of Australia. 15 October 1904. p. 21. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
^ The highest point above the tunnel lies near the Tunnelspitz, at approximately 2,855 m (9,367 ft) above sea level (estimated from the Swisstopo topographic map [1]).
^ Andreas Henke, Tunnelling in Switzerland, pp. 2-3.
^ "Inaugurato il tunnel del Sempione" su accaddeoggi.it

[THE_SIMPLON_TUNNEL-1] "The Simplon Tunnel". The Capricornian. Rockhampton, Qld: National Library of Australia. 15 October 1904. p. 21. Retrieved 19 March 2013.

[2] The highest point above the tunnel lies near the Tunnelspitz, at approximately 2,855 m (9,367 ft) above sea level (estimated from the Swisstopo topographic map [1]).

[3] Andreas Henke, Tunnelling in Switzerland, pp. 2-3.

[4] "Inaugurato il tunnel del Sempione" su accaddeoggi.it

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]