bild

Swiss Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger, right, director of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), carries a statue of Saint Barbara, patron saint of the miners, next to former Swiss Federal Councillor Adolf Ogi, left, after the tunnel drilling machine "Sissi" broke through the last section of the Gotthard Base Tunnel near Sedrun in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland, October 15, 2010. With 57 kilometre (35-mile) the new St. Gotthard tunnel is the world's longest tunnel. The 13,157 billion Swiss franc (9,6 billion euros, 13,6 billion dollars) Alptransit project, which is due to be operational in 2016, constitutes the center piece of the New Railway Link through the Alps NRLA. (KEYSTONE/Arno Balzarini)