The last bedrock blocking a 26.5-kilometer railway tunnel under construction was blasted on Sunday in Aomori Prefecture in northeastern Japan, marking the birth of the world's longest tunnel on land. But the tunnel, for use by Tohoku Shinkansen bullet trains, will soon lose the title when a 34.6-kilometer tunnel in Switzerland is completed this spring.

The Japan Railway Construction, Transport & Technology Agency began constructing the tunnel that connects the Tohoku Shinkansen Line's Hachinohe Station and Shin-Aomori Station in August 1998.