June saw the opening of the 57km long Gotthard Base railway tunnel, in Switzerland – the world’s longest and deepest traffic tunnel and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps. The main purpose of the tunnel is to increase local transport capacity through the Alpine barrier, notably on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor and, more particularly, to shift freight volumes from road to rail. NewRail’s Roberto Palacin was interviewed by Le Figaro about the benefits of the new construction: see his interview  LeFigarointerviewwithRP