The Great St Bernard Tunnel (french: Tunnel du Grand Saint-Bernard, it, Traforo del Gran San Bernardo, german: Grosser-Sankt-Bernhard-Tunnel) is a road tunnel complementing the Great St Bernard Pass, linking

Martigny Martigny (; german: Martinach, ; la, Octodurum) is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants (''Martignerains'' or "Octoduriens ...

(in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

canton of Valais) with

Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses ( Valdôtain: ) is a village and '' comune'' in the Aosta Valley, region in the north-western Italy. Geography Saint-Rhémy is the last Italian village before the Swiss border, about 20 kilometers northwest of Aosta. Th ...

(in the Aosta Valley, in north western

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Description

There is a toll to use the tunnel, payable in full even for drivers who already display on their vehicles a Swiss motorway vignette. The tunnel comprises a section of the E27 route linking Belfort with

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest o ...

. For most of its length the tunnel runs in a straight line, but incorporating a gentle slope. The northern end is above sea level while the southern end is only above sea level. At both ends, the approach road to the tunnel is covered by a gallery / avalanche shelter in order to minimize the risk of access to the tunnel being temporarily blocked during bad weather. Any frontier formalities are handled at the tunnel's north end, although the actual national frontier is from the Swiss tunnel entrance and from the Italian entrance. The name of the tunnel comes directly from that of the Grand St Bernard Pass, and thereby indirectly from the

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

who in AD 1049 founded the hospice high above the tunnel, that also bears his name. Tourists on the Swiss side additionally find themselves reminded by road side billboards of the saint's association with St Bernard dogs. The Rhône Pipeline has carried oil through the tunnel since 1966.

Toll charges

History

Before the tunnel was constructed, the frontier was passable here only using the Great St Bernard Pass. The pass remains an option in summer, but is normally closed by snow between October and May, and sometimes for longer. The tunnel is intended to be usable for 365 days every year. The tunnel was opened to traffic on 19 March 1964, having been under construction since 1958. It became the longest road tunnel in the world, surpassing the Vielha tunnel in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

in Spain which was opened in 1948. The approach roads have been progressively improved, and most recently the avalanche covers extended on the southern side. The Mont Blanc tunnel tragedy of 1999 prompted a major review of road tunnel safety in several countries including Switzerland, and significant safety upgrades are planned for the Grand St Bernard Tunnel. A speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) is already in force inside the tunnel.

Access and popularity

The tunnel and most of the connecting road between

and

are only single carriageway roads, and for most relevant city destinations in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

the toll free St Gotthard Tunnel and

Simplon Pass The Simplon Pass (french: Col du Simplon; german: Simplonpass; it, Passo del Sempione, Lombard: ''Pass del Sempiün'') () is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig in the canton ...

offer more direct or at least faster routes. This and the toll ensure that the Grand San Bernard Tunnel rarely suffers from the levels of holiday season congestion that plague the more popular Alpine crossing routes.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Road tunnels in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Valais Transport in Aosta Valley Tunnels completed in 1964 Toll tunnels in Europe Tunnels in the Alps 1964 establishments in Italy 1964 establishments in Switzerland