Chiasso (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkjasso]; Lombard: Ciass [ˈtʃas]) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of Como, Italy). The municipality of Chiasso includes the villages of Boffalora, Pedrinate and Seseglio.
The Gotthard railway (German: Gotthardbahn; Italian: Ferrovia del Gottardo), named after the Saint-Gotthard Massif, is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between northern and southern Europe, especially on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor. The Gotthard Railway Company (German: Gotthardbahn-Gesellschaft at Lucerne) was the former private railway company that financed the construction of and originally operated that line.
The railway comprises an international main line through Switzerland from Basel or Zürich to Immensee to Chiasso, together with branches, from Immensee to Lucerne and Rotkreuz, from Arth-Goldau to Zug or Pfäffikon SZ, and from Bellinzona to Chiasso via Locarno and Luino. At Chiasso, the line connects to the Milan–Chiasso railway, which runs across the Swiss–Italian border. The main line, the second-highest standard railway in Switzerland, penetrates the Alps using the Gotthard Tunnel at 1,151 metres (3,776 ft) above sea level. The line then descends as far as Bellinzona, at 241 metres (791 ft) above sea level, before climbing again to the pass of Monte Ceneri, on the way to Lugano and Chiasso. The extreme differences in altitude necessitate the use of long ramped approaches on each side, together with seven spirals.
The Sopraceneri ('Above the Ceneri'; Ticinese: Surascender) is the part of the Swiss canton of Ticino that lies to the north of the Monte Ceneri Pass through the Lugano Prealps. It includes the whole of the valley of the Ticino river and its side valleys, the Swiss shore of Lake Maggiore, the cities of Bellinzona and Locarno, as well as towns including Biasca and Riviera.
The Sopraceneri is not a half-canton with formally defined boundaries, but roughly maps to the districts of Bellinzona, Blenio, Leventina, Locarno, Riviera and Vallemaggia. The remainder of the canton is described as the Sottoceneri ('Under the Ceneri'), and includes the towns of Lugano, Mendrisio and Chiasso.
The Sottoceneri ('Under the Ceneri'; Ticinese: Sotascender) is the part of the Swiss canton of Ticino that lies to the south of the Monte Ceneri Pass through the Lugano Prealps. It includes the Swiss shore of Lake Lugano, and the cities and towns of Lugano, Mendrisio and Chiasso.
The Sottoceneri is not a half-canton with formally defined boundaries, but roughly maps to the districts of Lugano and Mendrisio. The remainder of the canton is described as the Sopraceneri ('Above the Ceneri'), and includes the valley of the Ticino river and the towns of Bellinzona, Biasca, Riviera and Locarno.
The A2 (the Gotthard Motorway) is a motorway in Switzerland. It forms Switzerland's main north–south axis from Basel to Chiasso, meandering with a slight drift toward the east. It lies on the Gotthard axis and crosses the Alps. Opened in 1955 under the name "Road Lucerne-south", A2 is one of the busiest motorways in Switzerland.
The A2 motorway leaves Basel heading south toward Olten, Sursee, Luzern, Stans, Altdorf, Erstfeld, Göschenen, Airolo, Biasca, Bellinzona, Lugano and reaches Chiasso. It intersects with the A1, A8, A13 and A14 motorways.
The Gotthard Road Tunnel in Switzerland runs from Göschenen in the canton of Uri at its northern portal, to Airolo in Ticino to the south, and is 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) in length below the St Gotthard Pass, a major pass of the Alps. At time of construction, in 1980, it was the longest road tunnel in the world; it is currently the fifth-longest. Although it is a motorway tunnel, part of the A2 from Basel to Chiasso, it consists of only one bidirectional tube with two lanes. With a maximum elevation of 1,175 metres (3,855 ft) at the tunnel's highest point, the A2 motorway has the lowest maximum elevation of any direct north-south road through the Alps.
The tunnel rises from the northern portal at Göschenen (1,080 m (3,540 ft)) and the culminating point is reached after approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi). After 10.3 kilometres (6.4 mi) from the northern portal there is the border between the cantons of Uri and Ticino; after another 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi), the tunnel ends at the southern portal near Airolo (1,146 m (3,760 ft)). The journey takes about 13 minutes by car, the maximum speed being 80 km/h (50 mph).