In 1996, funding was approved for the upgrading of the two major alpine rail crossings, the Gotthard Railway, including the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel and the Lötschberg Base Tunnel on the approach to the Simplon Tunnel. The Gotthard Base Tunnel is due to be completed in 2015. The Lötschberg Base Tunnel was opened in 2007, but most of its second line has been indefinitely deferred.