Norway’s Lærdal Tunnel is the longest road tunnel in the world at 24.51 km (15.2 mi), but China’s Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, opened in December 2025, is close behind at 22.13 km. These are 14 road tunnels open to traffic, ranked by length as of October 2026.
Pictured: a still from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration film “The Lærdal Tunnel” (uploaded to YouTube by Svein Olav Haukedal); the Lærdal Tunnel is #1, at 24.51 km.
Rank
Tunnel
Length (km)
Country
Opened
Type
Tubes / lanes
Notes
1
Lærdal Tunnel
24.51
Norway
2000
Mountain
1 tube, 2 lanes
E16 between Lærdal and Aurland; the longest road tunnel in the world since 2000
2
Tianshan Shengli Tunnel
22.13
China
2025
Mountain
2 tubes
G0711 Ürümqi–Yuli Expressway, Xinjiang; opened 26 December 2025
3
Yamate Tunnel
18.20
Japan
2015
Urban
2 tubes, 2 lanes each way
Tokyo Central Circular Route (C2), about 30 m under Yamate Street; first section opened 2007, full length 2015
Sichuan road between the Jinping-I and Jinping-II hydropower sites; sources give 17.50 to 17.54 km
6
Gotthard Road Tunnel
16.92
Switzerland
1980
Mountain
1 tube, 2 lanes
A2 motorway, Göschenen to Airolo; a second tube is planned
7
Tiantaishan Tunnel
15.56
China
2021
Mountain
2 tubes, 6 lanes
G85 Yinchuan–Kunming Expressway, Shaanxi
8
Daliangshan No. 1 Tunnel
15.37
China
2026
Mountain
2 tubes plus a pilot tunnel
S71 Leshan–Xichang Expressway, Sichuan; built 2025, expressway opened 1 January 2026
9
Muzhailing Tunnel
15.23
China
2024
Mountain
2 tubes
G75 Lanzhou–Haikou Expressway, Gansu
10
Zigana Tunnel
14.48
Turkey
2023
Mountain
2 tubes
D885 near Torul and Maçka; opened 3 May 2023
11
Ryfylke Tunnel
14.46
Norway
2019
Subsea
2 tubes
Hundvåg (Stavanger) to Solbakk (Strand), up to 292 m below sea level; the longest subsea road tunnel
12
Ovit Tunnel
14.35
Turkey
2018
Mountain
2 tubes
D925 between İkizdere and İspir; includes 1.37 km of cut-and-cover avalanche tunnel
13
Arlberg Road Tunnel
13.97
Austria
1978
Mountain
1 tube, 2 lanes
S16 Arlberg Expressway; the longest road tunnel in the world 1978–1980
14
Micangshan Tunnel
13.83
China
2018
Mountain
2 tubes
G85 Yinchuan–Kunming Expressway, Shaanxi–Sichuan; left tube 13,833 m, right 13,792 m
No matching rows.
Read this first: this ranks road tunnels that are open to traffic as of 22 October 2026, by length portal to portal, to the nearest 10 m. For a twin-tube tunnel the length is that of the longer tube (the two usually differ by a few metres to a few hundred), and a tunnel with one tube for each direction counts once, not as the sum of its tubes. Pilot, service and ventilation tunnels are not counted. Lengths and opening years come from Wikipedia’s “List of longest road tunnels”, cross-checked against operator or government figures (the Norwegian Public Roads Administration for Lærdal and Ryfylke, Turkey’s General Directorate of Highways for Zigana) and Xinhua, Tunnelbuilder or other press for the rest; where sources disagree it is noted in the table.[1][2] The Jinpingshan figure is 17.54 km in the list but 17.50 km in another Wikipedia list of Chinese tunnels, and the Gotthard is 16.918 km in the list and 16.942 km in its own article. The Zigana (14.476 km in the list, 14.481 km on Wikipedia) and Ryfylke (14.4 km official, 14.459 km in the list) are close, so the order of ranks 10 and 11 could swap under another measurement, as could Ovit’s. Left out: rail, metro and pedestrian tunnels; tunnels under construction, including Norway’s Rogfast (about 26.7 km, not expected before 2031) and China’s Taihangshan Tunnel, whose opening could not be confirmed; and WestConnex in Sydney (22.4 km in the list), because it is a network of linked motorway tunnels opened in stages from 2019 to 2023, not one continuous tunnel. The table stops at 14, as the next tunnels on the list (Dabashan, 13.7 km, and Xishan, 13.65 km, both in China) could not be checked against a second source. “Opened” is the year the full tunnel opened to traffic. Looking for other record structures? See The Longest Bridges in the World and The Tallest Skyscrapers in the World.
The Top 10
#1
Lærdal Tunnel — 24.51 km
The world’s longest road tunnel, on the E16 between Lærdal and Aurland in western Norway, is 24.51 km long. It opened on 27 November 2000 and completed the Oslo–Bergen road with no ferry crossings or winter mountain passes. It has one tube with two lanes and cost about 1.08 billion Norwegian kroner. To ease the monotony of the drive, it has three large caverns lit blue and yellow, like a sunrise, roughly every 6 km. The video is the road administration’s own film.[1][2]
#2
Tianshan Shengli Tunnel — 22.13 km
Opened on 26 December 2025 on the G0711 Ürümqi–Yuli Expressway, it is the longest expressway (motorway) tunnel in the world and the second-longest road tunnel overall. It cuts a several-hour drive through the Tianshan Mountains to about 20 minutes, and the Ürümqi–Korla trip from about 7 hours to about 3, according to Xinhua. Builder China Communications Construction Company says it has the deepest vertical ventilation shaft of any highway tunnel. The video is from CGTN.[1][2]
#3
Yamate Tunnel — 18.20 km
The longest road tunnel in Japan and the longest urban one on this list carries the Central Circular Route (C2) of Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway under Yamate Street, about 30 m down, with two lanes in each direction. The first section opened in December 2007 and the full 18.2 km on 7 March 2015. About 70% was built with shield tunnelling machines. The video, from Metropolitan Expressway Company, explains how drivers evacuate on foot.[1][2]
#4
Zhongnanshan Tunnel — 18.04 km
Opened in January 2007 on the G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway in the Qinling Mountains, south of Xi’an. It has two tubes of about 18 km each and was the longest road tunnel in Asia, and the second-longest in the world, when it opened. Its overburden reaches 1,640 m. No suitable video from an authoritative channel was found, so the icon is shown instead.[1][2]
#5
Jinpingshan Tunnel — 17.54 km
Two tubes of about 17.5 km run through Jinping Mountain in Sichuan, linking the sites of the Jinping-I and Jinping-II hydropower stations. Lengths are quoted as 17.50 to 17.54 km. A French-language report puts its deepest point 2,375 m below the surface. Wikipedia lists it as opened in 2011. No suitable video from an authoritative channel was found, so the icon is shown instead.[1]
#6
Gotthard Road Tunnel — 16.92 km
On the A2 motorway between Göschenen (Uri) and Airolo (Ticino), it was the longest road tunnel in the world from 1980 until Lærdal opened in 2000. It has one tube with two lanes, with traffic in both directions, a limit of 80 km/h and a drive of about 13 minutes. A second tube is under construction. The video is from the Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA) and describes that second tube.[1][2]
#7
Tiantaishan Tunnel — 15.56 km
On the G85 Yinchuan–Kunming Expressway in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi, opened in 2021. A Chinese construction report describes it as a six-lane tunnel in separate tubes, with up to 937 m of rock above it. It was billed as the longest six-lane twin-tube expressway tunnel in the world. No suitable video from an authoritative channel was found, so the icon is shown instead.[1]
#8
Daliangshan No. 1 Tunnel — 15.37 km
The longest road tunnel in southwest China, on the S71 Leshan–Xichang Expressway in Sichuan. The expressway section opened on 1 January 2026, although Wikipedia lists the tunnel as 2025. It is the first highway tunnel with a full-length central pilot tunnel, which serves for drainage, escape and ventilation, and it crosses two seismic fault lines. Its tubes are 15.32 and 15.28 km in another Wikipedia list. No suitable video from an authoritative channel was found, so the icon is shown instead.[1][3]
#9
Muzhailing Tunnel — 15.23 km
Part of the G75 Lanzhou–Haikou Expressway in Gansu, built from 2016 and opened in 2024. Its left tube is 15,226 m and its right tube 15,160 m. No suitable video from an authoritative channel was found, so the icon is shown instead.[1]
#10
Zigana Tunnel — 14.48 km
Turkey’s longest tunnel carries the D885 under the Zigana Pass between Torul and Maçka and opened on 3 May 2023. The General Directorate of Highways calls it the longest twin-tube road tunnel in Europe and gives 15.1 km when its connecting roads are included; the tunnel proper is about 14.5 km. It shortened the route by about 8 km. The video is from the Directorate.[1][2]
Xinhua via People’s Daily (opening of the Leshan–Xichang expressway section with the Daliangshan tunnel, 1 January 2026) and Tunnels and Tunnelling (its central pilot tunnel).
Videos: Norwegian Public Roads Administration (film uploaded by Svein Olav Haukedal), CGTN, Metropolitan Expressway Company, Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA) and Turkey’s General Directorate of Highways on YouTube; each ID was checked for channel and title.
