Simplon Tunnel
a tunnel through the Alps, Alps, os, designed to g give France and Switzerland direct communication by rail with Milan, the greatest distributing point in Italian trade. Work was begun on the tunnel in 1898, and it was completed Feb. 24, 1905. The Simplon tunnel begins in Switzerland near the little town of Brig, in the valley of the Rhône, Canton Wallis, and ends in the valley of the Diveria, on the Italian side near Isella. It is perfectly straight, except for a small curve at the ingress and egress. The tunnel was opened for traffic on Jan. 25, 1906, when the first passenger train passed through.