Gotthard Base Tunnel

Gotthard Base Tunnel
Turnout at Faido multifunction station
Overview
Official name
  • German: Gotthard-Basistunnel
  • Italian: Galleria di base del San Gottardo
  • Romansh: Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard
LineGotthard Line
LocationSwitzerland (Uri, Grisons and Ticino)
Coordinates
StatusActive since 11 December 2016[1] (Partially interrupted 10 August 2023 to 2 September 2024)[2]
SystemSwiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS)
CrossesAlps (western Glarus Alps and central Lepontine Alps at the eastern Gotthard Massif)
StartErstfeld, canton of Uri (north, 460 m or 1,510 ft)
EndBodio, canton of Ticino (south, 312 m or 1,024 ft)
Operation
Work begun4 November 1999[3]
Opened1 June 2016[4]
OwnerSBB Infrastructure
OperatorSBB CFF FFS
TrafficRailway
CharacterPassenger and freight
Technical
Length57.09 km (35.5 mi); total 151.840 km (94.3 mi) for all tunnels, shafts and passages[5]
Line length
  • 57.104 km (35.5 mi) (east tunnel)
  • 57.017 km (35.4 mi) (west tunnel)[5]
No. of tracks2 single-track tubes[5]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Electrified15 kV 16.7 Hz
Operating speed
  • Passenger (service):
  • 200 km/h (125 mph)
  • Passenger (if delay):
  • 230 km/h (145 mph)[6][7][8]
  • Max speed (technical):
  • 250 km/h (155 mph)
  • Freight:
  • 100 km/h (62 mph)
Highest elevation549 m (1,801 ft)[5]
Lowest elevation312 m (1,024 ft) (south portal)[5]
Tunnel clearance5.20 m (17 ft 1 in) from top of rail to overhead conductor[5]
Grade
  • max 4.055‰ (north)
  • max 6.76‰ (south)[5]
Route map
Route map
Route map

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; German: Gotthard-Basistunnel, Italian: Galleria di base del San Gottardo, Romansh: Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened in June 2016 and full service began the following December.[9][10] With a route length of 57.09 km (35.5 mi),[5] it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel[11][12][13][note 1] and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps.[14] It lies at the heart of the Gotthard axis and constitutes the third tunnel connecting the cantons of Uri and Ticino, after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel.

The GBT consists of a large complex with, at its core, two single-track tunnels connecting Erstfeld (Uri) with Bodio (Ticino) and passing below Sedrun (Grisons). It is part of the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA) project, which also includes the Ceneri Base Tunnel further south (opened on 3 September 2020) and the Lötschberg Base Tunnel on the other main north–south axis. It is referred to as a "base tunnel" since it bypasses most of the existing vertex line, the Gotthard railway line, a winding mountain route opened in 1882 across the Saint-Gotthard Massif, which was operating at its capacity before the opening of the GBT. The new base tunnel establishes a direct route usable by high-speed rail and heavy freight trains.[15]

The main purpose of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is to increase local transport capacity through the Alpine barrier, especially for freight on the Rotterdam–Basel–Genoa corridor, and more specifically to shift freight volumes from trucks to freight trains. This both significantly reduces the danger of fatal road crashes involving trucks, and reduces the environmental damage caused by heavy trucks. The tunnel also provides a faster connection between the canton of Ticino and the rest of Switzerland, as well as between northern and southern Europe, cutting the Basel/Zürich–Lugano–Milan journey time for passenger trains by one hour (and from Lucerne to Bellinzona by 45 minutes).[16]

After 64 percent of Swiss voters accepted the NRLA project in a 1992 referendum, the first preparatory and exploratory work began in 1996. Construction began in November 1999 at Amsteg.[17] Drilling operations were completed in March 2011.[18] Completed in 2016, the final cost was reported to be CHF 12.2 billion (US$12 billion).[19]

  1. ^ "Commissioning". Lucerne, Switzerland: AlpTransit Gotthard AG. Retrieved 12 May 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Gotthard Base Tunnel Derailment: everything you need to know for your trip". Berne, Switzerland: SBB CFF FFS. 16 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Construction begins". Bern, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Archives SFA, Swiss Federal Office of Transport FOT, Swiss Confederation. 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  4. ^ "155 days until opening". Lucerne, Switzerland: AlpTransit Gotthard AG. Retrieved 29 December 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Project data – raw construction Gotthard Base Tunnel" (PDF). Lucerne, Switzerland: AlpTransit Gotthard AG. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Axe nord-sud du Saint-Gothard (SBB/CFF website).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference SBBoperation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Giruno (SBB/CFF website).
  9. ^ "Über und durch den Gotthard – eine Zeitreise durch die Jahrhunderte" (in German). Zürich, Switzerland: SRF Swiss Radio and Television. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  10. ^ "World's longest and deepest rail tunnel to open in Switzerland". BBC News. June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Gotthard- und CeneriBasistunnel: die neue Gotthard-Bahn nimmt Gestalt an" (PDF). Geomatik Schweiz. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Wer hat die grösste Röhre?" [Who has the longest tube?]. Tages-Anzeiger (graphical animation) (in German). Zürich, Switzerland. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Gotthard tunnel: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel opens in Switzerland". BBC News. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  14. ^ Yücel Erdem, Tülin Solak, Underground Space Use. Analysis of the Past and Lessons for the Future, CRC Press, 2005 (p. 485)
  15. ^ Malins, Richard (December 2010). "Crossing the Alps". Modern Railways. London. pp. 79–81. ISSN 0026-8356.
  16. ^ Monnat, Lucie (11 December 2014). "Le tunnel de base du Gothard révolutionnera le rail dans deux ans". 24 heures. Lausanne. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  17. ^ "Chronology of a Project of the Century: Milestones in the Construction History up to 2010" (PDF). Lucerne, Switzerland: AlpTransit Gotthard AG. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  18. ^ Thomas Müller; Isidor Baumann (29 April 2016). "Oberaufsicht über den Bau der Neat im Jahre 2015: Bericht der Neat-Aufsichtsdelegation der eidgenössischen Räte zuhanden der Finanzkommissionen, der Geschäftsprüfungskommissionen und der Kommissionen für Verkehr und Fernmeldewesen" (PDF). Bundesblatt (in German, French, and Italian). Vol. 2016, no. 16.005. NRLA supervisory board of the federal councils. p. 6686. BBl 2016 6665 (-6732). Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  19. ^ "After 17 years and $12 billion, Switzerland inaugurates world's longest rail tunnel". Geneva: Associated Press. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2024 – via Los Angeles Times.


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