The Eurocity train #57 to Milano Centrale is leaving the Brig station. In a few seconds, the train will enter the Simplon tunnel. The tunnel connects Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shortcut under the Simplon Pass route. It is straight except for short curves at either end. It actually consists of two single-track tunnels built nearly 15 years apart. The first to be opened is 19,803 m (64,970 ft) long; the second is 19,824 m (65,039 ft) long, making it the longest railway tunnel in the world for most of the twentieth century, from 1906 until 1982, until the Daishimizu Tunnel opened 76 years later.
