Live data from Hacker News

World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland

bbc.com

11–20 of 170 posts

Re: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland

#11
post #3

"... longest and deepest rail tunnel ..." and "... delivered on time and within budget ..." Only in Switzerland, I guess. :) I wish there were better write ups of how the planning for this came together and what differs from other somewhat similar huge projects.

A much shorter tunnel, but with two new underground train stations, is being built under Stockholm, Sweden.[1] It is about 1/6 of the Swiss budget (about $2 billion). It will be completed on budget and slightly ahead of time this year.[2] So it can be done.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_City_Line

[2] in Swedish. http://framtidensinfrastruktur.se/artikel/snart-fardigbyggt-...

Re: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland

#12
post #3

"... longest and deepest rail tunnel ..." and "... delivered on time and within budget ..." Only in Switzerland, I guess. :) I wish there were better write ups of how the planning for this came together and what differs from other somewhat similar huge projects.

Scotland's latest bridge coming in under budget and on time even:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensferry_Crossing

Re: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland

#14
post #3

"... longest and deepest rail tunnel ..." and "... delivered on time and within budget ..." Only in Switzerland, I guess. :) I wish there were better write ups of how the planning for this came together and what differs from other somewhat similar huge projects.

"delivered on time" It's even better. They are about one year ahead of schedule.

There's a million reasons to love Switzerland, and now there's 57km more of it. This is amazing.

Once the new Berlin airport is finished in about 5-10 years, I'll fly down there to celebrate.

Re: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland

#15
post #3

"... longest and deepest rail tunnel ..." and "... delivered on time and within budget ..." Only in Switzerland, I guess. :) I wish there were better write ups of how the planning for this came together and what differs from other somewhat similar huge projects.

There is a bit on wikipedia[1] (more in the german version). The project wasn't with out Problems but because of such strict planning they could be solved. For example one of the TBM's got stuck for months, another issues such as sub contractors delivering fraudulent materials also had to be dealt with. [2] Although the Swiss part went well there are issues with the connection in Germany and Italy. Some projects in I…

It's amazing how hot it is in some places underground, up to 44C. Wow.

Re: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland

#16
post #3

"... longest and deepest rail tunnel ..." and "... delivered on time and within budget ..." Only in Switzerland, I guess. :) I wish there were better write ups of how the planning for this came together and what differs from other somewhat similar huge projects.

"delivered on time" It's even better. They are about one year ahead of schedule.

Ahead of schedule based on an adjusted schedule during construction. They are slightly behind the originally planned schedule (a couple years).

Obviously this is still a very well executed project overall.

Re: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland

#19
post #3

"... longest and deepest rail tunnel ..." and "... delivered on time and within budget ..." Only in Switzerland, I guess. :) I wish there were better write ups of how the planning for this came together and what differs from other somewhat similar huge projects.

A much shorter tunnel, but with two new underground train stations, is being built under Stockholm, Sweden.[1] It is about 1/6 of the Swiss budget (about $2 billion). It will be completed on budget and slightly ahead of time this year.[2] So it can be done. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_City_Line [2] in Swedish. http://framtidensinfrastruktur.se/artikel/snart-fardigbyggt-...

But most often, even in Sweden, it is not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallands%C3%A5s_Tunnel
Post reply on HN