Gotthard Base Tunnel
Gotthard Base Tunnel runs 57 kilometers (around 35 miles) through the Swiss Alps, and it opened on June 1, 2016.[1][2] As of its opening, it is the longest tunnel in the world. The tunnel was a part of the AlpTransit program, which sought to improve rail travel speeds from the north to south and advance European integration.[3][4]
The Gotthard Base Tunnel started normal operations on December 11, 2016.[5] In its first eight months of normal operations, north–south passenger traffic increased by about 30%.[6]
Bizarre opening ceremony
On the opening day on June 1, 2016, the Swiss government organized a very bizarre and disturbing ceremony that was widely reported by the media.[7] The ceremony included topless women, actors wearing only underwear, simulated lesbian sex, and other disturbing acts.[8][9]
While the ceremony was intended to represent pagan Swiss Alpine culture, numerous people, very understandably, considered whether the ceremony was satanic or demonic due to the close parallels with satanic worship in the ceremony.[9] While it does not appear that the ceremony was consciously intended to be satanic or demonic,[8] such fears were completely understandable and legitimate due to the graphic sexual and pagan references. Even if the ceremony was not intended to be evil, it was very disturbing and not Christian-influenced. It fit very well with the overall spiritual state of Europe.
Editors removed this notable and widely covered event from the Gotthard Base Tunnel's Wikipedia article for allegedly violating several Wikipedia policies.[10]
Notes
- ↑ Joyous Swiss celebrate longest tunnel breakthrough, The Washington Times (from the Associated Press), October 15, 2016.
- ↑ Gotthard tunnel: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel opens in Switzerland. BBC. June 1, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ↑ AlpTransit: Overview. alptransit-portal.ch. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ↑ Barrow, Keith (June 15, 2016). Gotthard Base Tunnel: the final straight. railjournal.com. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ↑ First full day of service for Gotthard rail tunnel. Swissinfo. December 11, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ↑ Gotthard rail tunnel boosts north-south traffic by a third. Swissinfo. August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ↑ Multiple references:
- Switzerland Tunnel: The Oddest Moments of the Opening Ceremony. BBC (June 1, 2016). Retrieved on December 27, 2016.
- World Agog at Bizarre Gotthard Base Tunnel Opening. The Local (June 1, 2016). Retrieved on December 27, 2016.
- A Winged Baby, Semi-Naked Dancers and a Man With a Bird's Nest on His Head: How Switzerland Decided to Mark Opening of World's Longest Rail Tunnel. Daily Mail (June 1, 2016). Retrieved on December 27, 2016.
- Warning! Articles contain graphic and disturbing images.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ruse, Austin (June 7, 2016). Swiss Tunnel Opening Ceremony Draws Cries of ‘Satanic’. Breitbart. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hohmann, Leo (June 6, 2016). New tunnel unveiled in bizarre 'demonic' ceremony. WND. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gotthard_Base_Tunnel&diff=756946920&oldid=756946205
