A new movie by Pål Øie called 'Tunnelen' (The Tunnel) will have its premier on December the 25th. It is not to be confused with the 2016 movie by director André Øvredal also called 'Tunnelen' (The Tunnel). Or with the earlier movies.

So many tunnel movies? You see, Norway is a tunnelling country. We have over 1100 tunnels here. With high mountains stretching perpendicular to the deep fjords, you have three options for land travel:

1- Navigate the valleys and have your trip prolonged maybe 10-20 times of a birds' fly.

2- Face the mountains head on to overcome them. It means a lot of curvy, snowy dangerous mountain roads.

3- Dig deep tunnels under the high mountains for fast and safe travel.

Sure, the tunnels cost money. Lots of it. But once you build them, they certainly pay back handsomely in time with the savings from time, gas, environmental pollution and safety.

Now, wait a minute, this safety part is a bit up for debate.

A safety expert interviewed by a local newspaper emphasizes that, although in general the disaster films are based on probability of a disaster, this movie is based on what can happen tomorrow. He says in Norway we have 25 fires in tunnels. Although he later adds that, per kilometer the fire rate is lower in tunnels than that in highways, it sounds a little bit trying to convince a person with fear of flying by using flight accident statistics and saying how safer it is compared to everyday driving (all due respect, I have not seen this explanation cure fear of flying on anyone).

He goes on saying that with single tube tunnels (one lane in each direction flowing in the same tube), there are only two emergency exits: one in each end of the tunnel. If there is a fire, you have to run to the closest exit (this may not be always the right thing to do in inclined tunnels though, as a train tunnel fire some years ago in a Austrian ski resort showed. In inclined tunnels it makes sense to run downwards, as the heat and smoke goes upwards). He says, with twin tube tunnels, the requirement is to have an emergency exit every 250 meters.

I started with the intention of talking about this new movie and here we are.

Have a Snowy and Merry Christmas!

Paul