[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.36]Switzerland has opened the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel, [00:05.44]17 years after starting work on the project. [00:11.04]The Gotthard Railway Tunnel is 57 kilometers long. [00:17.28]Trains passing through it [00:19.32]will be about 2.3 kilometers underground at the deepest point. [00:26.52]The tunnel cost $12 billion to build under the Alps of central Switzerland. [00:35.84]The tunnel will reduce the time it takes trains to travel [00:40.46]between northern and southern Europe. [00:44.56]It is also expected to lower the number of vehicles on roads, [00:50.00]and move cargo between north and south. [00:54.60]Many large trucks now carry goods through Europe. [00:59.00]The trucks pollute the air. [01:02.80]The two-way tunnel opens for commercial service in December. [01:08.40]When that happens, up to 260 freight trains [01:14.08]and 65 passenger trains will be able to pass through it every day. [01:22.04]German Chancellor Angela Merkel, [01:25.32]French President Francois Hollande [01:28.08]and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi [01:31.72]were at the opening ceremony on Wednesday. [01:36.48]There were also musical bands and dancers. [01:41.07]To celebrate the event, a special song was even written for the tunnel. [01:49.20]The new tunnel will have an effect on Switzerland and the rest of Europe [01:54.92]for years to come. [01:56.84]Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. [02:02.64]But some EU member countries have helped pay for, [02:07.64]design and build the tunnel. [02:10.92]The tunnel is expected to help the EU railway network [02:17.04]-- especially traffic between Germany and Italy. [02:22.16]The tunnel stretches from the German-speaking town of Erstfeld in the north [02:27.88]to the Italian-speaking town of Bodio in the south. [02:33.00]I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise. [02:36.28]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM