Swiss make commitment to maintain Gotthard Pass line

Government, SBB to spend 1 billion francs to renovate historic mountain route

Passenger train rounds curve after emerging from tunnel — A passenger train emerges from one of the spiral tunnels at Wassen on Gotthard Pass. The future of the historic route has been assured with the decision to spend 1 bilion Swiss francs on renovations. David Lassen

BERN, Switzerland — The long-term future of Switzerland’s historic Gotthard Pass rail line, which has been in question since the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016, has been assured with the decision of the Swiss government and Swiss Federal Railways, or SBB, to spend some 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.16 billion) to renovate the line beginning in 2025.\

The Zurich newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, or NZZ, reports that, while the importance of the original, or panoramic, Gotthard line has been demonstrated since the August 2023 derailment that damaged the base tunnel, the decision had been made prior to the derailment to maintain the double-track route dating to 1883.

“The interruption confirmed that an alternative route on the Gotthard is important,” Michael Müller, spokesman for the Federal Office of Transport, told NZZ. Previously, after the opening of the base tunnel, SBB had only committed to maintain the route through 2025, at which time it said it would review the situation.

While maintaining an alternate route in case of incidents involving the base tunnel is a major factor in the decision, the NZZ report also indicates that the success of the Treno Gottardo passenger service operated by Südostbahn (SOB) also plays a part. SOB has said ridership continues to grow, and SBB announced this month that it wants to continue the cooperative agreement with SOB past its current expiration date of 2029.

The Gotthard Pass line had been reduced to one hourly passenger train in each direction prior to the derailment that closed one bore of the Gotthard Base Tunnel [see “Gotthard Base Tunnel repairs will extend into 2024,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 16, 2023]. It is currently handling more than 100 trains per day and is likely to do so until at least September, when tunnel repairs are projected to be complete. For more information, see “Gotthard Pass Revival” in the March 2024 issue of Trains Magazine.