Project at a Glance

Background

The concept of the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) was first envisioned by engineer Carl Eduard Gruner in 1947. In the 1960s, the Swiss government established a committee to assess various ideas for constructing a base tunnel. By 1970, it formally recommended the development of the Gotthard base tunnel.

In 1992, authorities granted approval for the construction of two base tunnels as part of the "Die Neuen Eisenbahn-Alpentransversalen" (NEAT) or the "New Rail Link through the Alps" (NRLA) program. These tunnels include the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel the 34.6 km long Lötschberg Base Tunnel and the 15.4 km long Ceneri Base Tunnel.

In the subsequent years, engineers conducted exploratory drilling and other investigations to determine the most geotechnically suitable route for the tunnel, ultimately choosing the Erstfeld-Bodio route.

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Construction

AlpTransit Gotthard AG, a company fully owned by the Swiss Federal Railways, responsibly managed the construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.

The construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel stands as a remarkable achievement in modern engineering. The project faced significant challenges due to the unpredictable rock quality, the enormous weight of the mountain above, and the resulting extreme temperatures and humidity inside the tunnel, which could reach 46°C or 115°F without ventilation.

Four access tunnels were strategically constructed to expedite the construction process. These allowed simultaneous work at four different locations: Erstfeld, Amsteg, Sedrun, and Faido. Each of these sites had its own dedicated base camp. These camps provided housing, dining facilities, and worker transportation. They also included water treatment plants and concrete factories that made use of excavated rock from the tunnel construction. Later in the project, a fifth one, Bodio, was added.

A thorough analysis of excavation methods was performed, considering geological factors, geotechnical aspects, lot composition, progress rates, construction costs, and the recycling of excavated material. The primary construction tools employed were four enormous tunnel boring machines, specifically Herrenknecht Gripper TBM, each exceeding 441 meters in length.

Tunneling was done through different types of rock, including hard granite and crumbly sedimentary rock. Tunnel boring machines handled approximately 80 percent of the tunneling work in the primary tunnels. Conventional blasting techniques accomplished the remaining 20 percent.

The significant milestones in the Gotthard Base Tunnel project included the main breakthroughs. These breakthroughs occurred on March 23, 2011, in the Western tunnel and on October 15, 2010, in the Eastern tunnel. The Gotthard Base Tunnel took two decades to complete, from the initial excavation to the grand opening ceremony. Unfortunately, the construction process resulted in the tragic loss of nine workers due to accidents.

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Other Contractors

Signaling and Communication

After resolving a legal dispute regarding the initial selection process, a significant contract valued at Sfr1.69 billion was signed with the Transtec Gotthard Consortium in April 2008 to equip the tunnel and its approach tracks. The project commenced at the southern portal in September 2009.

The Gotthard and Ceneri tunnels, similar to the Lotschberg tunnel, both have the ETCS/ERTMS Level 2 system installed. This advanced system eliminates the necessity for conventional trackside signals in these tunnels. As part of the Transtec Gotthard Consortium, Thales was responsible for supplying, installing, and testing all ETCS Level 2 systems and centralized traffic control systems within the tunnels. 

Testing and Inaguration

Testing activities for the Gotthard Base Tunnel began in October 2015, followed by its official inauguration in June 2016. Commercial train services began in December 2016. Ceneri Base Tunnel measuring 15.4 km in length was inaugurated as a part of the NRLA program in September 2020. This marked the successful conclusion of the program.

Major Incidents

On August 10, 2023, a northbound freight train derailment forced the closure of the tunnel. This resulted in the cancellation or rerouting of trains that were supposed to pass through it. According to a statement from SBB, the Swiss Federal Railways, the derailment resulted in significant damage to  8 km of track. It also caused damage to 20,000 concrete sleepers and a lane change gate inside the tunnel.

Latest Update about Gotthard Base Tunnel

In september 2024, SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot has announced that Gotthard Base Tunnel has fully reopened, 389 days after a derailed freight train caused extensive damage to the slab track. The full reopening has reduced passenger journey times by 1 hour and all freight can now use the Base Tunnel, saving up to 75 minutes travel.  SBB said up to 260 freight trains and 70 passenger trains per day can now use the tunnel; before the reopening, there were around 750 freight trains per week on the route.

Importance

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is considered a "base tunnel" because it runs beneath the mountains instead of navigating the challenging terrain.

Just like the Fehmarn Belt Link Tunnel. this tunnel improves strategic connectivity between EU countries. It has a significant impact on transportation in the Swiss Alpine region. It offers a quicker and more efficient route compared to the St Gotthard Pass, the old St Gotthard Tunnel, and the St Gotthard Road Tunnel.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) shortened the travel time for trans-Alpine train journeys by around 40 minutes. The completion of the neighboring Zimmerberg and Ceneri Base Tunnels further reduced this travel time by one hour.

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The GBT serves both passenger and freight trains, facilitating a shift from trucks to railways for transporting goods. This change offers safety and environmental advantages. The tunnel's nearly level profile allows it to handle heavier and longer trains. This capability boosts daily freight train capacity from about 180 to roughly 260 trains.

Passenger trains in the GBT reach 200 km/h and cover Erstfeld to Bodio in 20 minutes. Freight trains maintain a minimum speed of 100 km/h. Typically, four to six freight trains and up to two passenger trains run in each direction through the tunnel hourly, every day.

Wrapping Up

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) stands as an engineering marvel, recognized as the world's deepest and longest railway tunnel. This remarkable feat of modern engineering has significantly improved transportation in the Swiss Alpine region, reducing travel times and facilitating the shift from road to rail for freight transport.

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