World News for Students of English

05-09-2024 07:00

The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest railway tunnel connecting Switzerland and Italy, reopened on Monday, over a year after a major accident forced its closure.

In August last year, a freight train operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) derailed due to a broken wheel, severely damaging the tunnel. An investigation revealed that hairline fractures in a wagon wheel caused the derailment. Repairing the damage was difficult and costly, taking several weeks to remove the train and requiring precautions for workers due to high temperatures inside the tunnel. The total repair cost reached 159 million euros, which exceeded initial estimates.

The tunnel’s closure severely impacted rail freight, especially for Italian operators, as they had to reroute trains, increasing costs and reducing capacity. The incident also occurred shortly before the Frejus Railway, a key connection between Italy and France was closed due to a landslide, further complicating freight operations in the region.

Difficult words: hairline fracture (a tiny crack), precaution (an action taken to prevent something unpleasant or dangerous from happening), reroute (to send on a different path).

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