BERN, Switzerland — The Swiss Federal Railways plans to begin operating 31 passenger trains through the Gotthard Base Tunnel on weekends beginning in December, while increasing freight movements during the week, the national rail operator — known by its German initials, SBB — said in an updated plan for operations through the damaged tunnel announced on Friday.
The plan would be effective with the annual timetable change, set for Dec. 10, and is subject to approval by the Federal Office of Transport, or BAV. The BAV’s ruling is expected shortly before the Dec. 10 date.
Passenger traffic through the 35.5-mile base tunnel, the world’s longest rail bore, has been either halted or severely restricted since an Aug. 10 derailment that caused damage to some 8 kilometers, or 5 miles, of the tunnel’s west tube [see “Broken wheel blamed for derailment …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 14, 2023]. Full reopening of the tunnel is now not expected until September 2024 [see “Gotthard Base Tunnel repairs may take until September 2024,” News Wire, Nov. 2, 2023]. Currently, about 100 freight trains per day are using the remaining east tube, with a handful of passenger trains on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. All other passenger traffic, and some freight trains, continue to detour over the panoramic Gotthard Pass route, which dates to 1882 and includes grades of 2.7%. This adds an hour to passenger travel times and cannot handle some passenger and freight traffic because of clearance restrictions.
The new plan will see 17 southbound passenger trains through the base tunnel on Friday evening and Saturday morning, and 14 northbound trains on Sunday afternoon. This schedule is planned to be effective until prior to Easter 2024; SBB says it is looking to further adapt the schedule for long holiday weekends beginning at Easter, and will provide additional information during the first quarter of 2024. The schedule specifics of the passenger plan, with times and arrival and departure cities, are available here (in German).
SBB says that the new plan was developed “in collaboration with the freight transport industry representatives and the passenger rail transport companies as well as the independent path allocation authority. As far as possible, it takes into account the various needs of construction work, passenger, and freight transport, and also takes into account the tense situation and the complex processes in international transit freight logistics and the associated terminals.”
Wouldn’t it make sense to use directional running between the remaining tunnel and the old pass? Switch it twice a day so traffic that doesn’t fit over the pass can get through.
The old route is double track. No need for directional running.
Dear hard-working and pragmatic SBB/CFF/FFS, I sincerely salute you once again for your career with a high success rate.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün