Miners wave a Swiss national flag and flags of the cantons Grisons and Ticino in celebrationyesterday as they celebrate after the drill machine 'Sissi' broke through the rock at the final section of construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a length of 57 kilometers crossing the Alps, the world's longest railway train tunnel should become operational at the end of 2017.

SWISS engineers smashed through the last stretch of rock yesterday to create the world's longest tunnel, sparking a national groundswell of elation over a costly, technically difficult project that has been 60 years in the making.

Trumpets sounded, cheers reverberated and even burly workers wiped away tears as foreman Eduard Baer lifted a statue of Saint Barbara - the patron saint of miners - through a small hole in the enormous drilling machine thousands of meters underground in central Switzerland.

At that moment, a 57-kilometer tunnel was born, and the Alpine nation reclaimed the record from Japan. European television showed the event live.

"This is the most wonderful moment in my 36 years of tunnel building," Baer said as he paused for breath, surrounded by joyous colleagues in hard hats and bright orange work gear, VIPs and news cameras.

The new Gotthard Base Tunnel is seen as an important milestone in the creation of a high-speed transportation" target="_blank" title="n.运输；运送；运费">transportationnetwork connecting all corners of Europe.

First conceived in 1947 by engineer Eduard Gruner, it will allow millions of tons of goods that are currently transported through the Alps on heavy trucks to be shifted onto the rails, particularly on the economically important link between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and Italy's Mediterranean port of Genoa.

Peter Fueglistaler, director of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, called Friday "a day of joy for Switzerland."

Some 2,500 workers have spent nearly 20 years smashing through the rock beneath the towering Gotthard massif.

Asked whether he thought the large, ongoing protests in the German city of Stuttgart could derail the project, he said: "Overall I'm confident that these connections will be built in time."

The protesters in Stuttgart oppose plans to move the city's station underground, viewing the US$5.7 billionproject as a waste of money. Supporters say it will free up the city's packed center and help shorten journeys across Europe.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• celebrate [´selibreit] vt.庆祝；表扬；赞美 (初中英语单词)
• construction [kən´strʌkʃən] n.建设；修建；结构 (初中英语单词)
• tunnel [´tʌnl] n.隧道 v.挖隧道 (初中英语单词)
• costly [´kɔstli] a.昂贵的；费用大的 (初中英语单词)
• project [prə´dʒekt, ´prɔdʒekt] v.设计；投掷 n.计划 (初中英语单词)
• statue [´stætʃu:] n.塑像，雕像 (初中英语单词)
• enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)
• european [juərə´pi:ən] a.欧洲的 n.欧洲人 (初中英语单词)
• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
• creation [kri´eiʃən] n.创作；作品；创造 (初中英语单词)
• transportation [,trænspɔ:´teiʃən] n.运输；运送；运费 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• federal [´fedərəl] a.联邦的，联邦制的 (初中英语单词)
• transport [træn´spɔ:t] n.运输；流放 (初中英语单词)
• celebration [,seli´breiʃən] n.庆祝(会)；庆典 (高中英语单词)
• patron [´peitrən] n.庇护人，保护人；赞助人 (高中英语单词)
• underground [,ʌndə´graund] ad.&a.地下(的) (高中英语单词)
• switzerland [´switsələnd] n.瑞士 (高中英语单词)
• joyous [´dʒɔiəs] a.充满快乐的 (高中英语单词)
• mediterranean [,meditə´reiniən] n.地中海 a.地中海的 (高中英语单词)
• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• foreman [´fɔ:mən] n.领班；陪审团主席 (英语四级单词)
• alpine [´ælpain] a.高山的 (英语四级单词)
• network [´netwə:k] n.网状物 vt.联播 (英语四级单词)
• towering [´tauəriŋ] a.高耸的；强烈的 (英语四级单词)
• shorten [´ʃɔ:tn] v.缩短，变短 (英语四级单词)