Gotthard Base Tunnel

To provide a faster and flatter passage through the Swiss Alps, the tunnel cuts through the Gotthard massif 600 m (1,969 ft) below the existing railway tunnel. On the current track, the Gotthardbahn, only trains up to 1,400 t (1,543 ST; 1,378 LT) when using two locomotives or up to 1,700 t (1,874 ST; 1,673 LT) with an additional bank engine at the end the train are able to pass through the narrow mountain valleys and through spiral tunnels climbing up to the portals the old tunnel at a height 1,100 m (3,609 ft) above sea level.
When completed, standard freight trains up to 4,000 t (4,409 ST; 3,937 LT) will be able to pass this natural barrier. Because ever increasing international truck traffic, the Swiss voted in February 1994 for a shift in transportation policy (Traffic Transfer Act, enacted in October 1999). The goal both the laws (and the goal the GBT, which is one the means by which the law will achieve its objective) is to transport trucks, trailers and freight containers from southern Germany to northern Italy and back by train to relieve the already overused roads (intermodal freight transport and so-called rolling highway where the entire truck is transported) and to meet the political requirement shifting as much tonnage as possible from truck transport to train transport, as required by the 'Alpine Protection Act' 1994.
Passenger trains will be able to travel as fast as 250 km/h (155.3 mph) through the new tunnels, reducing travel times for trans-alpine train trips by 50 minutes – and by one hour once the adjacent Zimmerberg and Ceneri Base Tunnels are completed.