935) The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT): A Silver 20 Swiss Francs Coin issued by the Swiss Mint at their facility in Bern (or Berne) in 2016 commemorating the opening of the largest railway and deepest traffic tunnel in the world:
The Gotthard Mountain Range has always played a special role in the lives of people on both sides of the Alps. For centuries, merchants transported all kinds of goods over the Gotthard Pass on their mules. Despite major risks, this was a very busy road and it was the shortest connection over the Alps.
The Gotthard Mountain Range has always played a special role in the lives of people on both sides of the Alps. For centuries, merchants transported all kinds of goods over the Gotthard Pass on their mules. Despite major risks, this was a very busy road and it was the shortest connection over the Alps.
Since the 13th Century AD, the 2106 metre-high Gotthard Pass has been an important trade route from Northern to Southern Europe. Control of its access routes, led to the birth of the Swiss Confederacy. The Gotthard Pass is located halfway between Lake Lucerne and Lake Maggiore.
The advent of the railway and the building of the first "Gotthard Tunnel" brought about radical changes. The mountain pass was stripped of its previous importance overnight by the capacity of the rail-link that opened in 1882.
The road tunnel which was opened in 1980, revolutionised the trans-Alpine traffic once again.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel:
The advent of the railway and the building of the first "Gotthard Tunnel" brought about radical changes. The mountain pass was stripped of its previous importance overnight by the capacity of the rail-link that opened in 1882.
The road tunnel which was opened in 1980, revolutionised the trans-Alpine traffic once again.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel:
The Gotthard Base Tunnel (in German "Gotthard-Basistunnel") or GBT is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland, which has added a new chapter in Gotthard's long transport history.
After a construction period lasting 17 years, the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) was completed as part of the "AlpTransit Project".
It took workers and engineers 14 years to drill the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) through the Alps, that is considered to be one of the most important routes through the mountain range.
After a construction period lasting 17 years, the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) was completed as part of the "AlpTransit Project".
It took workers and engineers 14 years to drill the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) through the Alps, that is considered to be one of the most important routes through the mountain range.
On 01.06.2016, the tunnel opened and full service commenced on 11.12.2016.
With a route length of 57.09 kilometres (or 35.5 miles), it is the world's largest railway and deepest traffic tunnel and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps. It is, also, the deepest railway route anywhere, with a maximum depth of 7,500 feet.
Without ventilation, temperatures can climb to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Interestingly, the climate at either end of the tunnel differ from each other and the air temperature is often 5 to 10 degrees higher on the South side of the portal as compared to the North.
Without ventilation, temperatures can climb to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Interestingly, the climate at either end of the tunnel differ from each other and the air temperature is often 5 to 10 degrees higher on the South side of the portal as compared to the North.
The tunnel lies at the heart of the Gotthard axis and constitutes the third tunnel connecting the cantons of Uri and Ticino, after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel.
Like the other two tunnels passing below the Gotthard, the GBT connects two Alpine valleys across the Saint-Gotthard Massif - the Urner Ruesstal in the canton of Uri in which flows the River Reuss and the Valle Leventina - the largest valley in the canton of Ticino, in which the River Ticino flows.
Like the other two tunnels passing below the Gotthard, the GBT connects two Alpine valleys across the Saint-Gotthard Massif - the Urner Ruesstal in the canton of Uri in which flows the River Reuss and the Valle Leventina - the largest valley in the canton of Ticino, in which the River Ticino flows.
Unlike most other tunnels, the Gotthard Base Tunnel passes under several distinct mountain Massifs, two of them being major sub-ranges of the Alps - the Glarus Alps and the Saint-Gotthard Massif, with the valley of the Anterior Rhine, the Surselva in the canton of Graubenden between them. The tunnel passes under these two ranges more than 2 kilometres (or 1.2 miles) below Chruzlistock (2,709 metres (or 8,888 feet) and the Piz Vatgira 2983 metres (or 9,787 feet) near the Lukmanier Pass.
The link consists of two single-track tunnels connecting Erstfeld (Uri ) with Bodio (Ticino) and passing below Sedrun (Graubünden). It is part of the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA) project, which also includes the "Ceneri Base Tunnel" further South (scheduled to open late 2020) and the Lotschberg Base Tunnel on the other main North-South axis.
(The Ceneri Base Tunnel is so called, because it bypasses most of the existing Gotthard railway line - a winding mountain route opened in 1882 across the Saint-Goddhard Massif, which was operating at its capacity before the opening of the GBT.
The opening of this railway tunnel had vast reduced the travel time to only a few hours, from the travel-time taken by horse drawn carriages/mule freight transports over the Gotthard mountain pass).
The opening of this railway tunnel had vast reduced the travel time to only a few hours, from the travel-time taken by horse drawn carriages/mule freight transports over the Gotthard mountain pass).
The main purpose of the GBT is to increase local transport capacity through the Alpine barrier, especially for freight, notably on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor and more specifically to shift freight volumes from trucks to freight trains. This had considerably reduced the danger of fatal road crashes involving trucks and reduces the environmental damage caused by heavy trucks.
The GBT provides a faster connection between the canton of Ticino and between Northern and Southern Europe cutting the Basel-Lugano-Milan journey time for passenger trains by one hour, and from Lucerne to Bellinzona by 45 minutes.
The maximum speed of the GBT trains is 250.0 kilometres per hour (or 160 Miles per hour) for passenger traffic and 100.0 kmph (or 62.0 mph) for freight traffic.
The Commemorative Coins:
The Reverse of the Silver 20 Swiss Francs Coin depicts the Gottard Tunnel's North portal in Erstfeld, along with the type of train being used in the tunnel.
The text at the right bottom corner is "GOTTARDO, 2016".
The Obverse of the Silver 20 Swiss Francs Coin has the inscription "CONFOEDERATIO HELVETICA" (meaning the "Swiss Confederation") along with the cross of the Swiss Federation.
On the lower half is seen the denomination of the coin "20 FR", the year of issue "2016" and the Mint Mark "B" of the Bern Mint.
This specifications of the Silver Proof Coin are:
Denomination: 20 Swiss Francs; Metal Composition: .835 Fineness Silver (Ag); Diameter/Size: 33.0 mm; Weight: 20.0 grams Coin Quality: Proof; Mintage: 5,000 pieces; Designer: Fredy Trumpi; Edge: Smooth/Inscribed; Mint: Bern Mint, Switzerland; Year of minting: 2016.
The Coin was also issued in the Brilliant Uncirculated variant, with the same specifications. The mintage for the BU variant was 30,000 pieces.
An image of the Edge lettering - the Text
An image of the other side of the Edge lettering - the Stars
The box in which the encapsulated Silver Coin is housed and presented together with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
(The above Proof Quality Coin is from the collection of my friend Jayant Biswas who has acquired it last week from the Swiss Mint. He has also sent me the images of the coin for this post).
The Gold Coin variant:
The Reverse and Obverse of the 50 Swiss Francs Gold Coin. The Reverse shows the South portal of the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) in Bodio, with a train emerging from it.
The design elements on the Obverse are identical to the Silver issue, except for the denomination "50 FR".
The specifications of the 50 Swiss Francs Gold Coin are:
Denomination: 50 Swiss Francs; Metal Composition: .900 Fineness Gold (Au); Diameter/Size: 25.0 mm; Weight: 11.29 grams; Coin Quality: Proof; Mintage: 4,500 pieces; Mint: Bern; Designer: Fredy Trumpi; Presentation Box: Yes, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
Some other interesting posts on Coins and Banknotes from Switzerland on this Blog:
The Commemorative Coins:
The text at the right bottom corner is "GOTTARDO, 2016".
On the lower half is seen the denomination of the coin "20 FR", the year of issue "2016" and the Mint Mark "B" of the Bern Mint.
This specifications of the Silver Proof Coin are:
Denomination: 20 Swiss Francs; Metal Composition: .835 Fineness Silver (Ag); Diameter/Size: 33.0 mm; Weight: 20.0 grams Coin Quality: Proof; Mintage: 5,000 pieces; Designer: Fredy Trumpi; Edge: Smooth/Inscribed; Mint: Bern Mint, Switzerland; Year of minting: 2016.
The Coin was also issued in the Brilliant Uncirculated variant, with the same specifications. The mintage for the BU variant was 30,000 pieces.
The box in which the encapsulated Silver Coin is housed and presented together with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
(The above Proof Quality Coin is from the collection of my friend Jayant Biswas who has acquired it last week from the Swiss Mint. He has also sent me the images of the coin for this post).
The Gold Coin variant:
The design elements on the Obverse are identical to the Silver issue, except for the denomination "50 FR".
The specifications of the 50 Swiss Francs Gold Coin are:
Denomination: 50 Swiss Francs; Metal Composition: .900 Fineness Gold (Au); Diameter/Size: 25.0 mm; Weight: 11.29 grams; Coin Quality: Proof; Mintage: 4,500 pieces; Mint: Bern; Designer: Fredy Trumpi; Presentation Box: Yes, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
Some other interesting posts on Coins and Banknotes from Switzerland on this Blog:
12) Federal Shooting Festival, Switzerland celebrated with the release of Silver 50 Franc and Gold 500 Franc "Talers" or Medals that are valid during the duration of the Festival (issue year - 2019)
13) 100 years of theSwiss National Circus - "Knie" celebrated with the issue os 20 Swiss francs coin from the Swiss Mint stable (2019): Issue date: 24.01.2019
14) The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT): A Silver 20 Swiss Francs Coin issued by the Swiss Mint at their facility in Bern in 2016, commeorating the opening of the largest railway and deepest traffic tunnel in the world
13) 100 years of theSwiss National Circus - "Knie" celebrated with the issue os 20 Swiss francs coin from the Swiss Mint stable (2019): Issue date: 24.01.2019
14) The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT): A Silver 20 Swiss Francs Coin issued by the Swiss Mint at their facility in Bern in 2016, commeorating the opening of the largest railway and deepest traffic tunnel in the world
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