There are many ways to explore the seven mountains that surround the picturesque UNESCO World Heritage city of Bergen on Norway’s fjord-studded west coast. The newest, however, might well be record-breaking.

A three-kilometer-long cycling and pedestrian tunnel has been blasted through the base of Løvstakken Mountain. It opened April 15 with a family day of sporting activities, following four years of construction that began in February 2019. The state-funded mega-project cost close to US$29 million.

“We Norwegians are usually modest people,” said Camilla Einarsen Heggernes, a spokesperson for rail company Bybanen Utbygging, “But in this instance we would say that the tunnel is 100% state of the art.”

It takes a little under 10 minutes to whizz through the tunnel by bike and around 40 if strolling by foot. To break up the monotony of the windowless tunnel, there are a variety of art installations throughout, as well as different colors and lighting to help users place where they are on the journey and offer a sense of direction.

At the center point is a “sundial” installation — where the sun definitely will never shine — which shows the time of day, again helping to orientate visitors and also to break up the otherwise long line of sight. The tunnel is otherwise perfectly straight, apart from slight curvatures at entrance and exit.

There are two lanes in the tunnel: a 3.5-meter-wide bike lane and a 2.5-meter-wide lane for walkers and runners. “We have laid down a blue rubber flooring throughout the tunnel, similar to an athletic track, explains Einarsen Heggernes. “This makes it more pleasant to use than if one would just walk on asphalt.”

The new tunnel came about as a byproduct of Bergen’s second Bybanen tram line, which opened in November 2022. The tram line through the mountain required a parallel evacuation tunnel, so the developers decided to make the new tunnel multipurpose.

Bergen is Norway’s second-largest city and the port city is linked to Oslo, the Norwegian capital, by the 496-kilometer Bergensbanen railway line. This stunning rail journey crosses Europe’s largest high mountain plateau, the Hardangervidda, and its snow-clad vistas were the backdrop for the battle scenes in the “Star Wars” sequel “The Empire Strikes Back.”

The Snoqualmie Tunnel in Washington State, the U.S., is 3.6 kilometers long. This former train tunnel is now a passageway for cyclists, runners and walkers and is part of the 400-km Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【日晷】rìguǐ sundial an instrument showing the time by the shadow of a pointer cast by the sun on to a plate marked with the hours of the day

【沥青】lìqīng asphalt a black, sticky substance, often mixed with small stones or sand, that forms a strong surface when it becomes hard

挪威峡湾遍布的西海岸风景如画，这里坐落着联合国教科文组织世界遗产城市卑尔根。环绕卑尔根的七座山脉有不同的打开方式，其中最新的路径可能是破纪录的。

一条三公里长的自行车和人行隧道穿过Løvstakken山脚。隧道2019年2月开工，耗时四年完工，于4月15日开放，当天举办了家庭体育活动日。这个国家出资的大型项目耗资近2900万美元。

负责项目的铁路公司的发言人卡米拉•艾纳森•赫格内斯说：“我们挪威人通常低调，但这一次我要说这条隧道100%是最先进的。”

骑行快速穿过隧道只需不到10分钟，步行大约需要40分钟。为了打破无窗隧道的单调，各处都有艺术装置，以及不同颜色和照明，以帮助用户定位并提供方向感。

隧道中间是一个“日晷”装置，显示了一天中的时间，当然隧道里没有阳光，这个装置还告诉游客他们所处的位置，也打破了原本很单调的视线。除了入口和出口处稍有弯曲，隧道其他地方是完全笔直的。

隧道内有两条道：一条3.5米宽的自行车道和一条2.5米宽的步行跑步道。“我们在整个隧道中铺设了蓝色塑胶地板，类似于运动跑道，” 埃纳森•赫格内斯说。走在上面比在沥青路面上更愉快。

新隧道是卑尔根第二条拜巴嫩有轨电车线路的副产品，该线路于 2022 年 11 月开通。穿过山上的有轨电车线路需要一条平行的疏散隧道，因此开发商决定让新隧道发挥更大用途。

卑尔根是挪威第二大城市，这个港口城市通过496公里的卑尔根斯巴嫩铁路与挪威首都奥斯陆相连。这条令人惊叹的铁路穿越欧洲最大的高山高原哈当厄尔高原，其白雪皑皑的远景是《星球大战：帝国反击战》中战斗场景的背景。

美国华盛顿州的斯诺夸尔米隧道长3.6公里，从前是火车隧道，现在也改为骑行跑步步行道，是400公里的帕卢斯至喀斯喀特州立公园步道的一部分。

(SD-Agencies)