美国有线新闻 CNN 隧道穿越阿尔卑斯山脉 缩短旅行时间（在线收听）

Which of these mountains is the shortest? Mont Blanc, Denali, K2, or Mount Kilimanjaro. At less than 16,000 feet tall, Mont Blanc is the shortest on this list and it's the tallest mountain in Europe.

下列哪座山最矮？勃朗峰、德纳里峰、乔戈里峰还是乞力马扎罗山？不足1.6万英尺的勃朗峰是上述名单中最矮的山，但却是欧洲最高的山。

Mont Blanc is located in the Alps and the Swiss part of the mountain chain is where our next story takes place as engineers there are putting the finishing touches on a new high speed, high capacity railway. This is part of a project to establish better and faster rail links in the region. The mountains have always been a major obstacle to that but the scenari-based tunnel cuts right through them. It's nine and a half miles long. It will join the remaining mountain section separating northern Europe and northern Italy and it will be a complement to the Gotthard based tunnel which opened in 2016.

勃朗峰是阿尔卑斯山的山峰，下则新闻发生在该山的瑞士山脉部分，当地工程师正在对一条新的高速、高容量铁路进行最后修整。这是在该地区建设更好更快的铁路系统的一部分。山脉一直是修建铁路的主要障碍，但风景优美的隧道现在要穿越山脉。这条隧道全长9.5英里。它将与分隔欧洲北部和意大利北部的其他山脉连接起来，也将成为2016年开通的圣哥达隧道的补充。

That passageway is 35 miles long. It took 2,500 people and $11 billion to build and though they don't offer the same astounding views as the old mountain route, these tunnels are flatter and less curved which allows heavier freight trains and more of them to travel through the Swiss Alps.

圣哥达隧道全长35英里。由2500名工作建造，耗资110亿美元，虽然没有旧时山路那样的惊人景观，但这些隧道较平坦，弯曲度较小，可让更多更重的货运火车通过瑞士阿尔卑斯山脉。

In fact the biggest benefit to these projects will be the freight companies who can now send more goods and commodities in less time through the Alps.

事实上，这些工程最大的益处在于货运公司现在可以在更短的时间内通过阿尔卑斯山，运送更多的货物和商品。

And as far as travelers are concerned, the total trip time between Zurich, Switzerland and Milan, Italy will be shortened from four hours to two and a half hours.

就旅客而言，从苏黎世、瑞士到意大利米兰的总旅行时间将从4个小时缩短到2个半小时。