" The Swiss are the Tunnel Kings, if you haven''t noticed that by now. This improbable project however takes the cake: a futuristic vision for an entirely subterranean high-speed maglev train for the Geneva--St. Gallen (East--West) as well as Basel--Chiasso (North--South) stretches. The plans are not entirely concrete. They''re sponsored by a company formed in 1992 called Swissmetro AG. The idea came into being after a Swissmetro co-founder, locomotive engineer Rodolphe Nieth, drew up the first plans a quarter century ago. The company is trying to scrounge up support in the proper political and financial circles. The trains would hum along at 400 to 500 kph. At such a rate, the current SBB--Intercity travel time of 3 hours between Geneva and Zurich for example would shrink to less than 1 hour. The trains would travel through a tube about 5 meters in diameter, set 40 to 140 meters under the ground. Air would be pumped out to produce a vacuum of only 10% of normal atmosphere, significantly reducing the required horsepower for the engines. The boarding stations would be built another level deeper underneath current stations. Swissmetro figures it would cost about 20 Billion francs to build the Geneva--Zurich axis (40 Billion including Basel--Chiasso), and could be in operation by 2020 under optimal financial and political circumstances. Swissmetro AG has more than 180 shareholders, among them SBB, SAirGroup, and Credit Suisse Group. Source: a story in the NZZ from Wednesday 10 January 2001, p. 11-12. Yves, 24 June 2001 "

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