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, it, Galleria del Sempione , line = Simplon line, (
Lötschberg railway line The Lötschberg is an Alpine mountain massif and usually associated with a major, historically important transit axis of the Alps in Switzerland with, at its core, the Lötschen Pass (german: Lötschenpass, Swiss German: ''Lötschepass''). The mou ...
) , location = Traversing the Lepontine Alps between
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
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 ...
, coordinates = – , system =
Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...
(SBB CFF FFS) , status = , crosses = Lepontine Alps ( Wasenhorn massif) , start =
Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...
,
canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...
, Switzerland , end = Iselle di Trasquera,
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
, Italy , stations = , startwork = 22 November 1898 (east tunnel), 1912 (west tunnel) , opened = 19 May 1906 (east tunnel), 1921 (west tunnel) , closed = , owner = SBB CFF FFS , operator = SBB CFF FFS , traffic = Railway , character = Passenger, Freight, Car Transport , vpd = Passenger: 70, Freight: ''unknown'' , length = (east tunnel), (west tunnel) , linelength = , tracklength = , notrack = Two single-track tubes , gauge = , el = since 1 June 1906, 15 kV 16.7 Hz since 2 March 1930 , speed = , hielevation = , lowelevation = (south portal) , height = , grade = 2–7 
Per mille (from Latin , "in each thousand") is an expression that means parts per thousand. Other recognised spellings include per mil, per mill, permil, permill, or permille. The associated sign is written , which looks like a percent ...
, map = The Simplon Tunnel (''Simplontunnel'', ''Traforo del Sempione'' or ''Galleria del Sempione'') is a railway tunnel on the
Simplon railway The Simplon Railway is a line that links Lausanne in Switzerland and Domodossola in Italy, via Brig. The -long Simplon Tunnel (opened in 1906) is a major part of it. The line between Lausanne and Vallorbe is sometimes considered to form part of ...
that connects
Brig, Switzerland Brig, officially Brig-Glis (french: Brigue-Glis; it, Briga-Glis), is a historic town and municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The current municipality was formed in 1972 through the merger of Brig (city) ...
and
Domodossola Domodossola (; Lombard: Dòm) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola ...
, Italy, through the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, providing a shortcut under the
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 ...
route. It is straight except for short curves at either end. It consists of two single-track tunnels built nearly 15 years apart. The first to be opened is long; the second is long, making it the longest railway tunnel in the world for most of the twentieth century, from 1906 until 1982, when the
Daishimizu Tunnel The is a railway tunnel on the Jōetsu Shinkansen on the border of Gunma Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture, Japan. In 1978, the Dai-Shimizu tunnel was completed. This tunnel was dug for the Jōetsu Shinkansen that was to be completed in 1982. T ...
opened. Culminating at a height of only above sea level, the Simplon Tunnel was also the lowest direct Alpine crossing for 110 years, until the opening of the
Gotthard Base Tunnel , rm, Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard , image = 20141120 gotthard-basistunnel02-wikipedia-hannes-ortlieb.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Turnout at Faido multifunction station , line = Gotthard Line , location = Switzerland ( Uri, Grisons and ...
in 2016. The tunnel has a maximum rock overlay of approximately , also a world record at the time. Temperatures up to have been measured inside the tunnel. Work on the first tube of the Simplon Tunnel commenced in 1898. The Italian king
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. He also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–1941) and ...
and the president of the Swiss Confederation (presiding the
Federal Council of Switzerland The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governm ...
for that year) Ludwig Forrer opened the tunnel at Brig on 10 May 1906. The builders of the tunnel were Hermann Häustler and Hugo von Kager. Work on the second tube of the tunnel started in 1912 and it was opened in 1921.


History

Shortly after the opening of the first railway in Switzerland, each region began to favour a separate north–south link through the Alps towards Italy. Eastern Switzerland supported a line through the Splügen Pass or the Lukmanier Pass, Central Switzerland and
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...
favoured the Gotthard Pass and Western Switzerland supported the Simplon route. In 1871 the first line was completed through the Alps, connecting Italy and France with the Fréjus Rail Tunnel. The
Compagnie de la Ligne d'Italie The Compagnie de la Ligne d’Italie (Railway of Italy Company, ''LdI''), or Ligne d’Italie for short, was a former Swiss railway company that established in 1859. In 1874, the Ligne d'Italie became part of the Compagnie du Simplon (Simplon Compa ...
was founded in 1856 to build a connection between Romandy and Italy through the
Canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...
and the Simplon. On 1 June 1874, it was taken over by the Simplon Company (
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
: ''Compagnie du Simplon'', S), which was created to promote the project. This merged in 1881 with the company
Western Swiss Railways The Western Switzerland Railways (''Chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale'', shortened to ''Suisse-Occidentale''; SO or S-O), were initially a joint operation of three Swiss railway companies, but these companies merged on 1 January 1872. The co ...
(French: ''Chemins de Fer de la Suisse Occidentale'', SO) to create the Western Switzerland–Simplon Company (French: ''Compagnie de la Suisse Occidentale et du Simplon'', SOS). The French financiers of the SOS were able to secure finance for the tunnel in 1886. The company considered 31 proposals and selected one that involved the construction of a tunnel from Glis to Gondo, which would have been fully in Switzerland. From Gondo it would have continued on a ramp through the Divedro valley down to
Domodossola Domodossola (; Lombard: Dòm) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola ...
. At a Swiss-Italian conference held in July 1889, it was agreed, however, to build a nearly base tunnel through the territory of both states. In order to secure credit for the tunnel, the SOS joined with the Jura–Bern–Luzern Railway to create the Jura–Simplon Railway (French: ''Compagnie du Jura–Simplon'', SOS). The participation of the Swiss government led to the signing of a treaty with Italy on 25 November 1895 concerning the construction and operation of a railway through the Simplon from Brig to Domodossola by the Jura–Simplon Railway. The route of the tunnel was determined by military considerations so that the state border between the two countries was in the middle of the tunnel, allowing either country to block the tunnel in the event of war. On 1 May 1903, the Jura-Simplon Railway was nationalized and integrated into the network of the
Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...
(SBB), which completed the construction of the tunnel.


Construction

The construction of the tunnel was carried out by the Hamburg engineering company Brandt & Brandau, of Karl Brandau and . On average, 3,000 people a day worked on the site. They were mostly Italians, who suffered under very poor working conditions: 67 workers were killed in accidents; many died later of diseases. During the work, there were strikes, which led to the intervention of vigilantes and the
Swiss army The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, re ...
. With up to of rock over the tunnel, temperatures of up to were expected and a new building method was developed. In addition to the single-line main tunnel, a parallel tunnel was built, with the tunnel centres separated by , through which pipes supplied fresh air to the builders in the main tunnel. It was envisaged that the parallel tunnel could be upgraded to a second running tunnel when required. The first Simplon Tunnel ( in length) was built almost straight, with only short curves at the two tunnel portals. On 24 February 1905, the two halves of the tunnel came together. They were out of alignment by only horizontally and vertically. Construction time was years, rather than years, due to problems such as water inflows and strikes.


Electrification and operation

Operations commenced through the tunnel on 19 May 1906. Because of its length among other things, it has operated with electric traction rather than
steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...
from the beginning. The official decision to use electricity was made only half a year before its opening by the then-still-new SBB.
Brown, Boveri & Cie Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 19 ...
(BBC) were commissioned to carry out the electrification. They decided in 1904 to use the three-phase system being introduced in Italy, with a three-phase power supply of 3,400 volts at 15.8 Hz using two overhead wires with the track acting as the third conductor. BBC had no electric locomotives and initially acquired three locomotives built for the
Ferrovia della Valtellina The Ferrovia della Valtellina (Valtellina railway) is a railway line in Italy that runs from Lecco to Valtellina and Valchiavenna. It was opened in 1894 and electrified on the three-phase system in 1902. It is now electrified at 3 kV direct cur ...
—the owner of the lines from
Colico Colico ( Comasque: or ; la, Colicum) is a city in the province of Lecco, Lombardy, Italy. It is situated on the northern arm of Lake Como, where the river Adda enters the lake. Colico is the most important city in the northern part of Lake ...
to
Chiavenna Chiavenna ( lmo, Ciavèna ; la, Clavenna; rm, Clavenna or ''Claven''; archaic german: Cläven or ''Kleven'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine ...
and Tirano, which had been electrified with this system in 1901 and 1902—from their owner, the ''Rete Adriatica'' (Adriatic Network) railway company. These three locomotives (which became
FS Class E.360 The FS Class E.360 were electric locomotives of the Italian State Railways (FS), using three-phase alternating current, built for the operation of the Valtellina line. They were ordered by Rete Adriatica (the Adriatic Network) and were origi ...
) hauled all traffic through the tunnel until 1908. On 2 March 1930, the Simplon tunnel was converted to 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC (single-phase).


Expansion

Between 1912 and 1921, the second tube, known as Simplon II, was built. On 7 January 1922 the northern section from the north portal to the passing loop in the middle of the tunnel was brought into operation, followed on 16 October 1922 by the southern section from the passing loop to the south portal.


Second World War

During the Second World War, on both sides of the border, there were preparations for the possible detonation of the tunnels. The explosives attached to the tunnel on the Swiss section were not removed until 2001. In Italy, the German army planned, as part of its 1945 withdrawal, to blow up the tunnel, but was thwarted by
Italian partisans The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Socia ...
with the help of two Swiss officials and Austrian deserters.


Present and future


Car-carrying shuttle trains

There is a car-carrying shuttle between
Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...
and Iselle di Trasquera, which provides a 20-minute train journey as an alternative to driving over the Simplon Pass. The service began on 1 December 1959. As roads over the Simplon Pass steadily improved throughout the 1970s and 1980s the tunnel's shuttle schedule was cut back, then ended altogether on 3 January 1993. Almost twelve years later, on 12 December 2004, the car shuttle service began again and now runs about every 90 minutes.


Piggyback transport

In the early 1990s, a project to implement the
rolling highway In rail transportation, a rolling highway or rolling road is a form of combined transport involving the conveying of road trucks by rail, referred to as Ro-La trains. The concept is a form of piggyback transportation. The technical challen ...
system of piggyback operations for transalpine freight on the
Lötschberg The Lötschberg is an Alpine mountain massif and usually associated with a major, historically important transit axis of the Alps in Switzerland with, at its core, the Lötschen Pass (german: Lötschenpass, Swiss German: ''Lötschepass''). The mo ...
–Simplon axis was implemented. Such operations were possible under the previous profile of the Simplon Tunnel, but capacity would have been heavily restricted because its height was too low to carry trucks at the permitted maximum corner height of . The clearance in the tunnel was therefore increased by lowering the rail trackbed. This work began in 1995 and lasted eight years. At the same time, the tunnel vault was rehabilitated, while the drainage tunnel was rebuilt. A total of of rock was removed with pneumatic breakers. In addition, a new
railway electrification system A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), e ...
was installed using overhead electric rail instead of the tensioned cable normally used for overhead electrification so that the required height clearance could be achieved. In the late 1980s, a long overhead electric rail had been tested at . Before this experiment, trains running under overhead electric rails in Switzerland had been limited to and internationally to . Restricted rail operations were maintained during the entire construction period.


Expansion of access routes

In order to expand the Lötschberg-Simplon axis into a powerful transit axis, various extensions to the access lines (from
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
and
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
in the north and from
Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...
and
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
in the south) have been made in recent years and decades. The largest projects have dealt with the northern access from Basel-Bern via Lötschberg. Between 1976 and 2007 there were three major transformations. First, the remaining single-track line between
Spiez Spiez is a town and municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes ...
and Brig was dualled. Later, adjustments were made to the tunnel profile for piggyback traffic; in places only widening one track was possible. Finally, the Lötschberg Base Tunnel partially opened in 2007, although the new tunnel still has a 21-kilometre (13 mile) single-track section; this was done in order to save costs for the construction of the longer
Gotthard Base Tunnel , rm, Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard , image = 20141120 gotthard-basistunnel02-wikipedia-hannes-ortlieb.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Turnout at Faido multifunction station , line = Gotthard Line , location = Switzerland ( Uri, Grisons and ...
, which was completed in 2016. Clearances were also raised for the piggyback traffic on the Italian side as well on the Simplon southern approach. Here, too, for financial reasons, at times only one line was cleared for the rolling highway. South of Domodossola, the single line to
Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...
via
Lake Orta Lake Orta (Italian: ''Lago d’Orta'') is a lake in northern Italy, west of Lake Maggiore. It has been so named since the 16th century, but was previously called Lago di San Giulio, after Saint Julius (4th century), the patron saint of the r ...
was electrified and modernized. The classic approach to the Simplon from Paris and
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
—less important for today's transit traffic—was upgraded in the context of a nationwide rail upgrading project, Rail 2000, between 1985 and 2004. Further adjustments are proposed. In November 2004, the new line between
Salgesch Salgesch (French: ''Salquenen'') is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Salgesch is first mentioned in the 11th Century as ''Salconio''. In 1225 it was mentioned as ''Salquenum''. The transform ...
and
Leuk Leuk (french: Loèche-Ville) is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013, the former municipality of Erschmatt merged into the municipality of Leuk.Rhone Valley was completed to replace the last single-track bottleneck on the route. Under the ZEB ("Future rail development projects") package, the maximum speed on the long straight sections of the Rhone valley lines will be increased from .


2011 fire

On 9 June 2011, a section of the Simplon II tunnel's roof was seriously damaged when a northbound BLS freight train caught fire and stopped into the tunnel. The temperature exceeded and took more than two weeks to cool back to normal. By agreement all repairs to the tunnels are the responsibility of the SBB, which expected to reopen the tunnel in December 2011. The other tunnel remained in service. Repair work was completed in November 2011.


Facts and figures

*Length of tunnel I: *Length of tunnel II: *Elevation at north portal, Brig: *Elevation at crest of the tunnel: *Elevation at south portal, Iselle: *Gradient on north side: 2 ‰ *Gradient on south side: 7 ‰ (1 in 143) *Maximum rock overlay: (below the Tunnelspitz of the Wasenhorn massif) *Start of construction on north side: 22 November 1898 *Start of construction of south side: 21 December 1898 *Breakthrough: 24 February 1905 *Inauguration: 19 May 1906 *First electrical operation: 1 June 1906


Spiral tunnel

On the rail line north from Domodossola prior to the Simplon tunnels is the "Varzo Spiral Tunnel", probably the longest spiral tunnel in the world. See the route diagram at the start of this subject.


In popular media

In the 1957 novel '' From Russia, with Love'' by
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...
, protagonist
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
fights his enemy, SMERSH agent Donovan Grant, eventually killing him, while passing through the Simplon Tunnel on the ''
Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe and int ...
''. In '' Against the Day'' by
Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
, Reef Traverse works on the Simplon Tunnel.


Notes


References

*Michel Delaloye (Hrsg.): Simplon, histoire, géologie, minéralogie. Ed. Fondation Bernard et Suzanne Tissières, Martigny 2005. (in German) *
Frank Garbely Frank Garbely (born 10 November 1947) is a Swiss independent journalist, non-fiction writer, author and director of documentary films. He is one of Switzerland's best known investigative journalists and has uncovered numerous scandals in his ho ...
: Bau des Simplontunnels. Die Streiks! Unia, Oberwallis 2006 (in German) *Thomas Köppel, Stefan Haas (Hrsg.): Simplon – 100 Jahre Simplontunnel. AS-Verlag, Zürich 2006. *Wolfgang Mock: Simplon. Tisch 7 Verlagsgesellschaft, Köln 2005. (in German) *M. Rosenmund: Über die Anlage des Simplontunnels und dessen Absteckung, in: Jahresberichte der Geographisch-Ethnographischen Gesellschaft in Zürich, Band Band 5 (1904–1905), S. 71ff. (Digitalisat) (in German) *Hansrudolf Schwabe, Alex Amstein: 3 x 50 Jahre. Schweizer Eisenbahnen in Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft. Pharos-Verlag, Basel 1997. (in German) *Georges Tscherrig: 100 Jahre Simplontunnel. 2. Auflage. Rotten, Visp 2006. (in German) *Enzyklopädie des Eisenbahnwesens. Bd 9. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin 1921 Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2007 (Repr.), S. 68–72. (in German)


External links


Francis Fox, How the Swiss Built the Greatest Tunnel in the World, 1905


* description of the construction of the tunnel {{Authority control Railway tunnels in Switzerland Railway tunnels in Italy Transport in Piedmont Italy–Switzerland border crossings Buildings and structures in Valais Railways using three-phase power Tunnels completed in 1906 1906 in Italy Tunnels in the Alps International tunnels