European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By James Hansen Manchester guardian service it would be the biggest thing in Swiss. Technology since the precision watch. Planning is at an advanced stage for a 192-mile, countrywide i underground railway system that would Span Switzerland from Geneva in the West to St. Gallon near the austrian Border in the East. Called Swiss metro it would carry passengers at speeds reaching 300 Mph. Plans Call for 800-passenger trains at 15-minute intervals. A a a. Geneva to Zurich is currently a three hour run by car. On Swiss metro it would take 57 minutes including three minute stops in Lausanne Berne and Lucerne. Intermediate stations would All just be 12 minutes apart a work is to begin in 1999 with the construction of twin tunnels at Depths ranging from 165 feet to 330 feet. The Geneva to St. Gallen line is intended Only to be a first step. A second phase Caits for a North South line linking Basel with a Bellinzona on the italian Border. The change to order any Book co or video. Call toll free 0130-8-21176 Point Between the two lines is expected to beat Lucerne. There would be further extensions. If completed As planned Swiss metro will cover a distance of roughly 408 mites. The Swiss tunnels Are expected to be quite narrow just under 16v2 feet in diameter each. Work would be aided by the favourable geology of the underground route from Geneva to Zurich nearly All of it soft easily mined Sandstone. \ the Basel to Bellinzona route a would be a greater Challenge As Long stretches would pass through hard Basaltic Rock. This presents a disposal problem too according to the Swiss it will mean around 1.47 billion cubic feet of rubble about 16 times the volume of the great Pyramid of Cheops a rather a lot to have to tuck away in Switzerland s environmentally delicate landscape. However engineers argue that it won t be As bad As the Channel Tunnel excavation. Instead of digging from Only two ends they la be working at Sites Only 18 Miles apart. / v v geology does present another mountainous problem. Switzerland is Alpine precisely because the tectonic plate on which Africa rides is still pushing toward Europe. The mountains Are still being built though the process is too slow to be visible. Switzerland can expect to be reshaped so can the Tunnel system. The engineers argue that the Tunnel casings will be flexible enough a on a scale of hundreds of Miles a to absorb and redistribute deformation without any damage. Length is not the Only Challenge facing the builders. Trains Are expected to run not on rails but floating in the air suspended in a magnetic Field. A magnetic levitation arc Gromisch ski instructor training clinics Jan. 8-12. Feb. 6-10. Mar. 13-17 2 i. R i i i i i All interested advanced and expert skiers Are invited to our ski instructors training clinic. This course is geared toward skiers wishing to learn to teach skiing As Well As ski instructors unfamiliar with the american teaching system. Certified instructors from the professional ski instructors of. America will conduct the course. Participants will have an Opportunity to become members of the Psia. Training topics1 i i i i i american teaching system ski safety \ class organization Quot demonstration improvement Persona skiing improvement Cost $ 189 includes 5 Days of skiing on the Hill instruction classroom instruction video analysis. For information arc ski school Dan 4402-644 Civ. 08821 52066 for registration Call Dan 4402-575 surface railway is already under construction in Germany to connect Berlin and y Hamburg a to permit the High Speed travel which is to make Swiss metro pay most of the air in the tunnels is to be extracted. This would allow the train convoys to travel in a near vacuum reducing resistance. Project engineers assessing the technologies to be used say they expect to maintain a relatively High vacuum. Between one and Tiree percent of Normal atmospheric pressure a in the system. This will present the toughest problem although the technology has already been worked out with researchers at Cern the Geneva research Laboratory which maintains even higher vacuums in particle accelerator systems. There will be pumping stations every five or six Miles along the route. Even so there will be problems there will need to be airlocks to Stop pressure in the Tunnel rising. If this happens the Sharp Rise in pressure won t present problems for passengers but the train would have to creep slowly to the next station and set of airlocks to find another Speed permitting vacuum again. Keeping water out of underground constructions is always a problem even when there s not a vacuum to suck it in so engineers Are experimenting with sheathing to protect the tunnels. The most promising is a double Wall of reinforced Cement with a polymer plastic vapor Barrier Between. A since the vacuum in the tunnels would not support human life stations would also have to be equipped with Airlock mechanisms to protect passengers As they Board and leave trains which would have to be sealed like Jet planes. Preliminary designs. For the carriages resemble wingless dc-9 aircraft in size and shape. The vacuum also raises Complex questions about the safety of passengers in an emergency. A Swiss metro spokesman says the twin Tunnel approach eliminates any Chance of head on collision and each Convoy will be equipped with an auxiliary propulsion system to reach the next station under its Sowri Power in Case of a breakdown. 1 Swiss metro a the company that s proposing the system has powerful backing. Both Swiss Federal railways and Swissair Are important shareholders As Are Quot multinationals Asea Brown Bovary and. Through a subsidiary the French construction giant Bougues. The project has also been blessed by the Swiss ministry of transport and the Federal government has already budgeted $5.4 million for preliminary planning. Although it s difficult to make reliable estimates of Cost at completion a team of engineers working on the project at the pol technique University of Lausanne believes the entire system will Cost about $21.8 billion. Swiss metro engineers expect to have the Geneva to St. Gallen line in full operation by 2015 they anticipate that the Basel to Bellinzona link will require another 10 years to Complete. Neighbouring countries have been invited to consider building links to the Swiss metro system. A preliminary engineering study of a possible Extension of the southbound Basel to Bellinzona line to Milan Italy has already begun. A so Apps Howard news service new year s eve party saturday december 31 St 8 00 pm to 7 00 am party includes unlimited Bowling dancing. Warm Buffet Champagne breakfast sign up Early to secure your reservation Heidelberg Bowling Center for reservations or More information Call Dan 370-6965or Civ 06221-57-6965. 18 stripes Magazine december 8, 1994