The Gotthard railway tunnel, completed in 1880, was a groundbreaking feat of 19th-century engineering. Drilled through the Swiss Alps, the tunnel connected the towns of Göschenen and Airolo, spanning 15 kilometers. It was designed to link northern and southern Europe by rail, a project led by engineer Louis Favre. Favre signed a contract that required him to finish the tunnel on time, with severe penalties for delays—five thousand francs per day of delay. The tunnel was officially completed on February 28, 1880, when workers from both ends met in the middle of the mountain. However, it did not open for public use until 1882. The construction of the tunnel was extremely hazardous. Workers faced extreme heat, water temperatures reaching up to 40°C, and high levels of silica dust, which led to chronic respiratory diseases. The working conditions were harsh, with high humidity, dust, and the dim light of oil lamps. Beyond the risks of cave-ins and explosions, workers were also exposed to the slow, insidious danger of suffocation from the fine dust. Louis Favre, the project's lead engineer, died of a heart attack in July 1879, just months before the tunnel was completed. The human cost of the project remains a topic of discussion, with some sources reporting 199 worker deaths and others citing 177. This difference may stem from how deaths were counted—some figures include those related to auxiliary infrastructure, while others focus only on those directly involved in tunnel drilling. Modern Swiss tunnel projects have seen significant improvements in safety and technology. The Gotthard road tunnel, completed in 1980, cost 19 lives, while the more recent Gotthard base tunnel, finished in 2016, recorded only nine deaths, despite similar extreme conditions. The original Gotthard railway tunnel remains a symbol of both engineering brilliance and the heavy human toll of its creation.