Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Swiss Lift to Put CN Tower To Shame

The CN Tower in Toronto is considered to be the world's tallest structure at 553m high. But that is soon to change when a new underground rail line is built in Switzerland. The line will connect parts of Switzerland from Zurich to Milan in a high speed underground train.

But the catch is on the way up. You must take a lift which is 800m high up to the surface. Just imagine the lift to be 3/8 bigger than the CN Tower. The "Porta Alpina" if approved will be the deepest underground station in the middle of the longest railway tunnel, connected to the surface by the longest lift putting the CN Tower in Toronto to Shame. The diagram looks to show the Eiffel tower as being about half the size of the lift.

The idea to expand and put in the "Porta Alpina" train line was so that people of the isolated and economically depressed mountain region in Graubunden could be connected to the rest of the world by a high-speed rail link. What it means is more people visiting the area.

I don't know about you but I'd still be concerned about my safety on the way up. That's sure a long lift! If people are able and willing to travel to this area, then I think the high speed line which will be finished in 2015 will be a good hit. For now, I guess we have to take a more conventional route to the Graubunden region.

Go here to check out the pdf German version of the plans.

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