Furka Base Tunnel

Furka Base Tunnel

Tunnel near the Realp portal
Overview
Line	Furka Oberalp Bahn
Location	Valais / Uri, Switzerland
Coordinates	46°32′7″N 8°27′12″E / 46.53528°N 8.45333°E / 46.53528; 8.45333
Status	Open
System	Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
Start	Oberwald, Valais, Switzerland
End	Realp, Uri, Switzerland
Operation
Opened	25 June 1982 (1982-06-25)
Owner	Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
Operator	Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
Traffic	Train
Character	Passenger and freight
Technical
Length	15.407 km (9.573 mi)
Line length	15.407 km (9.573 mi)
No. of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrified	Overhead catenary, 11 kV AC 16 2/3 Hz
Highest elevation	1,564 m (5,131 ft) above the Sea
Lowest elevation	1,390 m (4,560 ft)
Route map
Legend km to Visp 41.3 Oberwald Oberwald deviation tunnel Furka Steam Railway Rhonebrücke 59 m Goneribrug 60 m West portal 47.2 Geren (passing loop) Furka Base Tunnel 15,442 m Bedretto ventilation tunnel 53.0 Rotondo (passing loop) East portal Furka Steam Railway 59.4 Realp to Andermatt This diagram: view talk edit

The Furka Base Tunnel is a Swiss railway base tunnel on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn's Furka–Oberalp line, an east–west railway connecting the cantons of Valais and Uri. Its west portal lies east of Oberwald (VS), at 1,390 m (4,560 ft) above sea level and its east portal lies south of Realp (UR), at 1,550 m (5,090 ft).

Prior to its construction, all traffic had to use the historic high-level route via the 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long Furka Summit Tunnel, which was only available seasonally due to the threat posed by heavy snowfalls. Construction commenced during 1971, taking ten years to complete. An innovative permanent support system was used, comprising rock anchors and a shotcrete coating, which included the first use of polyurethane-based grouting within a railway tunnel. The tunnel has a relatively narrow cross section, which has been attributed with slowing the construction effort somewhat. The interconnecting Bedretto tunnel was used during the Furka Base Tunnel's construction for the removal of excavating spoil as well as to moving supplies inwards; it has since been reused for ventilation.

The Furka Base Tunnel is 15,407 m (16,849 yd) in length, and replaced the previous track that climbed to an apex of 2,160 m (7,090 ft) above sea level, thus allowing year-round service through service on the Furka–Oberalp line. In the middle of the base tunnel, is a 5,221-metre-long (5,710 yd) access tunnel to Bedretto in the canton of Ticino (elevation 1,480 m (4,860 ft));^[1] some proponents of the project hoped to eventually build a Y-shaped tunnel connecting all three locations. The Furka Base Tunnel is completed by a bypass tunnel around Oberwald.