SWITZERLAND: The abbot of Engelberg Abbey opened the 4043 m long Grafenort – Engelberg tunnel on Switzerland’s metre-gauge Zentralbahn on December 11, with regular services starting the next day.
The 10·5% gradient in the tunnel replaces the exceptionally steep 24·6% on the previous route, reducing uphill journey times by 14 min and increasing capacity. Construction took 10 years at a cost of SFr1745m, hindered by serious flooding in 2005 (RG 4.10 p42).