Newspaper claims transalpine tunnel is SFr500m too expensive
A Swiss Sunday newspaper claims it has a leaked report into the feasibility of the new transalpine Gotthard tunnel project, which reveals that current costs could be cut by half a billion francs.
The unconfirmed article in the SonntagsBlick says it has access to further details, including the report’s conclusion that fees alone could be cut by SFr120 million, and that management costs could be slashed by SFr40 million. The SonntagsBlick also claims the report criticises the lack of cost control for the project overall.
The developers, Alptransit Gotthard AG, plan to build new rail tunnels linking the north of Switzerland with the south. The company spokesman, Ruedi Suter, said he could not confirm the figures in the SonntagsBlick article, adding that the report is currently in the hands of the management committee before it is published in the coming week.
The report was written by Hayek Engineering AG, a consultancy led by the Swatch magnate, Nicolas Hayek. It was commisssioned to look into the feasibility of the project within its current budget of SFr6.6 billion.
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