The world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel has officially opened in Switzerland, after almost two decades of construction work.

　　位于瑞士的世界上最长最深的铁路隧道在施工近20年后宣告正式通车。

　　The 57km (35-mile) twin-bore Gotthard base tunnel will provide a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe.

　　这条全长57公里(35英里)的连拱隧道叫做圣哥达基线隧道，位于瑞士阿尔卑斯山山脚下，是一条连接南北欧的高速铁路隧道。

　　Switzerland says it will revolutionise European freight transport.

　　瑞士当局表示，隧道的通车将在欧洲交通运输业掀起一场革命。

　　Goods currently carried on the route by a million lorries a year will go by train instead.

　　目前每年靠几百万辆卡车运输的货物今后将改道于此。

　　The tunnel has overtaken Japan’s 53.9km Seikan rail tunnel as the longest in the world and pushed the 50.5km Channel Tunnel linking the UK and France into third place.

　　这条隧道超越了此前的世界之最--日本全长53.9公里的青函海底隧道，将全长50.5公里的英吉利海峡隧道挤到了第三的位置。

　　In a speech to guests in Erstfeld, near the northern entrance to the tunnel, Swiss Federal President Johann Schneider-Ammann said it was a "giant step for Switzerland but equally for our neighbours and the rest of the continent".

　　瑞士联邦总统约翰·施奈德-阿曼在隧道北端入口厄斯特费尔德发表的演讲中表示：“(隧道的完工)对瑞士，对瑞士的近邻和整个欧洲大陆来说都是一次飞跃。”

　　A live relay carried a speech from the southern end of the tunnel, in Bodio, by the Swiss federal transport minister, Doris Leuthard.

　　而在隧道南端入口波狄欧，瑞士联邦交通部长多丽丝·洛伊特哈德发表了同步实时演讲。

　　Afterwards two trains set off in opposite directions through the tunnel, each carrying hundreds of guests who had won tickets in a draw, and the new route was formally open.

　　随后两列火车从两侧入口同时发车，每列车上坐着上百位在车票摇奖中胜出的乘客，标志着隧道全线通车。

　　A lavish show then got under way for the assembled guests in Erstfeld, with dancers, acrobats, singers and musicians celebrating Alpine culture and history.

　　厄斯特费尔德稍后举行了一场大型演出，舞蹈，杂技，歌曲，人们以种种方式赞美阿尔卑斯的历史与文化。

　　European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern also attended the day’s events.

　　德国总理安格拉·默克尔，法国总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德，意大利总理马泰奥·伦齐和奥地利总理克里斯蒂安·克恩等欧洲各国政要都出席了仪式。

　　Mr Hollande, who took part with others in a follow-up trip through the tunnel on a train, emerged on the southern side to give a speech in which he compared the Gotthard to the Channel Tunnel.

　　这些领导人在仪式结束后同样登上列车穿过了整条隧道。奥朗德在隧道南面入口举行的仪式上发表了演讲，将圣哥达隧道和英吉利海峡隧道做了一番比较。

　　Recalling the great Franco-British project, which was completed in 1994, he said: "Nobody could have imagined that one day you would be able to travel from England to France in that way."

　　奥朗德回顾了于1994完工的英吉利海峡隧道，表示：“人们如今竟然能以如此方式往返英法两地，这在过去简直匪夷所思。”

　　"Since then we are more united than ever and I hope the British will remember that when the day comes," he added, to laughter and applause from the audience in the Swiss village of Pollegio.

　　“此后英国和欧洲的联系愈发紧密，我希望(投票)那天英国人能想起这些，”奥朗德接着说道，波莱焦村的人群中爆发了一阵笑声和掌声。

　　The UK holds a referendum on 23 June on whether or not to remain in the EU.

　　英国在6月23日将举行公投决定在欧盟的去留。

　　The French leader went on to praise European aspirations, including the free movement of people and goods.

　　法国领导人继续称赞欧洲的雄心壮志，比如实现欧洲人和商品的自由通行。

　　The presence of high-level guests at the opening shows that the new tunnel is about more than protecting the Alpine environment, the BBC’s Imogen Foulkes reports.

　　BBC的Imogen Foulkes报道称这些高层政要出席启动仪式表明隧道承载的意义绝非仅仅止于保护阿尔卑斯的环境。

　　Europe’s goods, whether Italian wine for the Netherlands or German cars for Greece, have to cross the Alps. Now they will able to do so more quickly, more safely, and more cheaply, our correspondent says.

　　据BBC记者报道，过去无论是远销荷兰的意大利红酒还是运往希腊的德国汽车，阿尔卑斯山都是必经之路。如今，这些商品的运输速度更快，安全系数更高，造价也更低廉。

　　The project, which cost more than $12bn (?8.3bn) to build, was endorsed by Swiss voters in a referendum in 1992. Voters then backed a proposal from environmental groups to move all freight travelling through Switzerland from road to rail two years later.

　　该工程的造价超过120亿美元(合83亿英镑)，在1992年瑞士举行的全民公投中获得了民众的支持。两年后环保团体提出将货物的运输方式由公路改为铁路的提案同样得以通过。

　　The completed tunnel travels up to 2.3 km below the surface of the mountains above and through rock that reaches temperatures of 46C.

　　隧道位于阿尔卑斯山表面下多达2.3公里的位置，穿过温度达到46摄氏度的岩石层。

　　Engineers had to dig and blast through 73 different kinds of rock, some as hard as granite and others as soft as sugar. More than 28m tonnes of rock was excavated, which was then broken down to help make the concrete used to build the tunnel.

　　施工人员挖出并炸掉的岩石足有73种之多，有的岩石硬的花岗岩，有的岩石软的像糖果。施工过程中共挖掘出2800吨土石方，这些废料后来制成了修建隧道的混凝土。

　　Now the completed tunnel, delivered on time and within budget, will create a mainline rail connection between Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Genoa in Italy.

　　隧道及时交工，费用亦控制在预算之内，从此将成为连结荷兰鹿特丹和意大利热那亚的铁路干线。

　　When full services begin in December, the journey time for travellers between Zurich and Milan will be reduced by an hour to two hours and 40 minutes.

　　待12月全面开放后，游客往返苏黎世和米兰的单趟行程的时间将变为两小时四十分钟，减少了足足一个小时。

　　The tunnel’s course is flat and straight instead of winding up through the mountains like the old rail tunnel and a road tunnel opened in 1980.

　　圣哥达隧道走势平直，没有仿效过去的铁路隧道和1980年投入使用的公路隧道环山的设计。

　　About 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains will pass through the tunnel each day in a journey taking as little as 17 minutes.

　　今后每天将有260列货车和65列客车通过隧道，用时仅为17分钟。

　　The tunnel is being financed by value-added and fuel taxes, road charges on heavy vehicles and state loans that are due to be repaid within a decade.

　　目前隧道运维的资金来源包括增值税，燃料税，重型运货卡车缴纳的公路费和将于10年内到期的国家贷款。

　　Swiss bank Credit Suisse has said its economic benefits will include the easier movement of goods and increased tourism.

　　瑞士信贷银行表示公路的经济收益体现在运输效率的提高和旅游人数的增长。

　　Nine workers died in accidents while the tunnel was under construction.

　　隧道修建期间，九名工人不幸丧生。

　　Four were Germans, three Italians, and one each came from South Africa and Austria, according to German news agency dpa. They are commemorated by a plaque near the northern end of the tunnel, Swiss media report.

　　据德新社报道，九名遇难者中，四人来自德国，三人来自意大利，还有一名南非人和一名奥地利人。瑞士媒体报道在隧道北端入口处设有纪念几人的饰板。

（编辑：何莹莹）