Switzerland has opened the deepest and longest rail tunnel in the world with an over-the-top performance that would give even the most outlandish Eurovision entry a run for its money.
The northern end of the new Gotthard Base Tunnel was filled with a flurry of interpretative dancers, winged acrobats and conceptual musicians performing an avant garde tribute to life and culture in the Swiss Alps.
A horse and carriage rode through the tunnel to begin the festivities, followed by marching workers in hi vis uniforms and a man on a train whipping sheets of metal with chains.
At one point men and women wearing white underwear danced on top of a moving train while a bare chested woman wearing angel wings glided above.
Although the weird performance overshadowed the launch of the railway, the Swiss government says the $US12 ($A16.54) billion project will revolutionise transport in Europe.
