The Gotthard Base Tunnel started in 2004, and travels underneath the Swiss Alps for 35.4 miles. The cost of the project was just under $10 billion U.S., and now it is finally done. The New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA) is the core focus of Swiss transport policy and consists in shifting heavy goods vehicle traffic from road to rail, as proposed in the Alpine Initiative. But it is also a story about connecting up Europe.