BERN, SWITZERLAND – The inaugural trains for the Gotthard tunnel 1 June won’t lack keen passengers: the Gottardo 2016 project office says more than 140,000 have registered in the first two weeks of a competition to ride the first trains.

The competition is open until the end of January. The first 10 ticket winners were announced over the weekend. The other 490 ticket winners will be named in early February. Each will receive two tickets.

Regular service on the world’s longest train tunnel, built at a cost of CHF12 billion, will begin in December 2016.