After 17 years of construction and 28.2 million tons of excavated material, the world’s longes and deepest rail tunnel has opened in Switzerland. And the ceremony featuring alphorn players, topless “angels” and goats, could not have been more bizarre. Masked acrobats and interpretive dancers dressed like miners ushered in the Gotthard Base Tunnel’s opening near the town of Erstfeld Wednesday. Leaders from six countries attended the flashy ceremony, including German chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande.

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