![A European country has dug a "second state" under the mountains: more than 1,400 tunnels, some 2,000 kilometers [1,200 mi] long, almost unnoticed during the journey](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=n1info.ba%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F2026%2F6%2F23%2F1782224916_Screenshot_2026-06-23_161035.width-1200.png&w=3840&q=75&output=webp&we)
BASwitzerland has over 1,400 tunnels totaling more than 2,000 kilometers in length, including railway tunnels under the Alps, highway tunnels on national motorways, and hidden galleries for water and electricity. The most notable part of this underground network is the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA), which combines three base tunnels—Lötschberg, Gotthard, and Ceneri—into a flat rail corridor beneath the mountains. The Gotthard Base Tunnel alone stretches 57 kilometers and is currently the longest railway tunnel in the world. This infrastructure aims to shift freight traffic from roads to railways to protect the Alps, reducing emissions and improving efficiency. Since the 1990s, Switzerland’s Alpine initiative has encouraged moving long-distance freight to trains, with over 72% of trans-Alpine freight now transported by rail. In 2018, 941,000 trucks crossed the Swiss Alps, down from around 1.3 million in 2000. Analysts estimate that without these transportation changes, an additional 651,000 trucks would have passed through the Alps in 2016, avoiding at least 0.7 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2017.
Bias read (Center): The article provides a factual overview of Switzerland's extensive tunnel system and its environmental and logistical benefits, without overtly favoring any political stance. It focuses on technical and infrastructural achievements rather than political debates or ideological framing.
