Gotthard Base Tunnel to remain partially closed for months
Some 23 of 30 cars of a freight train derailed in the Gotthard tunnel on August 10.
Keystone / Sbb
Repair work in the Gotthard tunnel following a freight train derailment on August 10 will take several months, the Swiss federal railways says. While some freight traffic is expected to re-start on August 23, passenger trains will continue to be diverted for considerably longer.
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According to the federal railways operator (SBB), investigations have shown that the extent of the damage in the west tube is significantly greater than assumed. There are still 16 freight cars in the tunnel out of the original 23 that derailed, some of which are badly damaged.
“The Gotthard Base Tunnel is one of the safest in the world,” the federal railways CEO Vincent Ducrot toldExternal link journalists on Wednesday. “The fact that such an accident could still happen hits us hard. Luckily there were no injuries, but there was a lot of damage.”
A total of eight kilometers of track and 20,000 concrete sleepers have to be replaced. This work will take several months. SBB expects that both tunnel tubes will be available for use again at the beginning of 2024.
The priority is to get the east tube up and running to allow for freight traffic to start flowing. This is expected to happen on August 23. The federal railways, together with the Federal Office of Transport, is looking for solutions to allow passenger trains also run through the east tube as soon as possible. For the time being, passenger traffic will have to use the Gotthard panorama route, which takes at least an hour longer.
It had originally been estimated that the Base Tunnel would reopen on August 16, six days after a freight train derailed near Faido in canton Ticino, one of two emergency stops of the tunnel. Since the closure, passenger trains and some freight have been diverted via the Gotthard panorama route. Freight trains have also been re-routed through the Lötschberg and Simplon tunnels.
Investigations into the cause of the accident continue. On August 14, investigators said they believed the derailment was probably caused by a broken wheel tread after the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB) discovered fragments of a wheel and traces of derailment on the tracks.
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