Porta Alpina
Porta Alpina ("Alpine Gate") was a proposed railway station to be located in the middle of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in southern Switzerland. Intended to promote tourism and the economy in the region of Graubünden, the project was put on hold as uneconomical in 2007, and then indefinitely shelved by the Swiss authorities in 2012.
Design
Porta Alpina would have been the deepest underground train station in the world at 800 meters underground, outclassing by far Arsenalna Metro station.
The station was proposed to be located near a crossover between the northbound and southbound tunnels and to be linked to the surface by the world's highest elevator, using shafts built near the village of Sedrun for the construction of the tunnel. Construction costs were estimated at 40-50 million Swiss francs, with annual operating costs of 2.5 million francs. It was initially projected to be opened in 2016 after the Base Tunnel was scheduled to come into service.
Project history
Proponents of Porta Alpina viewed it both as a potential tourist attraction in its own right, and as a useful transport link to assist the economically challenged Graubuenden region. The station would have connected the North/South Gotthard railway line with the East/West Rhaetian Railway/Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway, which would link to the elevator by means of local buses to Sedrun station (MGB) and Disentis station (RhB). This was to have been the fastest public transport link between Zürich and the canton of Graubünden.
Podcasts:
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by Normals
Brittle Bone
by: NormalsSunset skyline out my window
Stained carpet underfoot
Ain't that the way that it goes
We live in the bad and long for the good
Down here the well has been poisoned
Now everything's dying
Some sell forgiveness on gospel TV shows
And I wonder why anyone's buying
'Cause the truth is a hard sell for it burns out the lies
And I tear hard this brittle bone and I drink deep this wine
Live rich on the meat of this table 'cause it's here where I can find
The grace of a Saviour, the face of a lover, the absence of what I fear
I'm not alone for here I've found my home
I've been hiding like an ostrich, my head underground
And all my dirty feathers all across town
Lucky vampire has no mirrors me, I'm scared of what I'd see
I long for a last time with last times, isn't that why You died for me?
I bow my head weeping, I pray I'll raise it to find You
And I tear hard this brittle bone and I drink deep this wine
Live rich on the meat of this table for it's here where I can find
The grace of a Saviour, the face of a lover, the absence of what I fear
I'm not alone for here I've found my home
'Cause I can think too much, I can think You away
Now that I've crashed hard, can I see how You save?
There's a small cloud in the distance but I'll keep on walking
Till Your grace sings so loud, I can't hear myself talking
Can't hear myself talking
And I tear hard this brittle bone and I drink deep this wine
Live rich on the meat of this table 'cause it's here where I can find
The grace of a Saviour, the face of a lover, the absence of what I fear
I'm not alone for here I've found my, not alone for here I've found