Simplon Tunnel

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The 19.8 km Alpine base tunnel between Brig in Switzerland and Iselle in Italy, first bore built 1898–1905 and second 1912–1921, and the longest mountain tunnel in the world for most of the twentieth century. It is in this Journey because it is the piece of rock that decided a political problem: after 1918, with transit through Germany and Austria closed to the service, the Simplon gave the reconstituted Orient Express a southern path from Paris through Lausanne, Milan, Venice and Trieste to Belgrade and on to Istanbul. The train's post-war identity was named after a hole in a mountain, which is a fair summary of what actually constrains a long-distance railway.