, rm, Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard , image = 20141120 gotthard-basistunnel02-wikipedia-hannes-ortlieb.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Turnout at Faido multifunction station , line =

Gotthard Line The Gotthard railway (german: Gotthardbahn; it, Ferrovia del Gottardo) is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between nort ...

, location =

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

( Uri,

Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Surmiran, (Ca ...

and

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

) , coordinates = , system = Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) , status = Active since 11 December 2016 , crosses =

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

(western

Glarus Alps The Glarus Alps (german: Glarner Alpen) are a mountain range in central Switzerland. They are bordered by the Uri Alps and the Schwyz Alps to the west, the Lepontine Alps to the south, the Appenzell Alps to the northeast. The eastern part of ...

and central Lepontine Alps at the eastern

Gotthard Massif The Gotthard Massif or Saint-Gotthard Massif (german: Gotthardmassiv or ; it, Massiccio del San Gottardo; rm, Massiv dal Gottard) is a mountain range in the Alps in Switzerland, located at the border of four cantons: Valais, Ticino, Uri and Gra ...

) , start =

Erstfeld Erstfeld is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History In 1962 a collection of four gold torques and three gold arm rings were discovered near Erstfeld. While the exact origin date is unknown, they are likely from the 4th cent ...

canton of Uri The canton of Uri (german: Kanton Uri rm, Chantun Uri; french: Canton d'Uri; it, Canton Uri) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's terri ...

(north, ) , end =

Bodio Bodio is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Bodio is first mentioned in 1227 as ''Boidi''. During the Middle Ages, Bodio and the now abandoned village of Simbra (or Saimola) formed a ''De ...

canton of Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

(south, ) , stations = , startwork = 4 November 1999 , opened = 1 June 2016 , closed = , owner = SBB Infrastructure , operator = SBB CFF FFS , traffic = Railway , character = Passenger and freight , length = , linelength = , tracklength = , notrack = 2 single-track tubes , gauge = (

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

) , el = 15 kV 16.7 Hz , speed = , hielevation = , lowelevation = (south portal) , height = from top of rail to overhead conductor , grade = , map = Map Gotthard-Basistunnel

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; german: Gotthard-Basistunnel, it, Galleria di base del San Gottardo, rm, Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard) is a railway

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

through the

. It opened on 1 June 2016 and full service began on 11 December 2016. With a route length of , it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnelThe world longest tunnel for transport of people is the Guangzhou Metro Line 3 in China (60 km). Reference: Nic Ulmi
"Des trous suisses remplis d'imaginaire"
nterview with André Ourednik '' Horizons'', magazine of the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, number 118, September 2018, pages 22-23. and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps. It lies at the heart of the Gotthard axis and constitutes the third tunnel connecting the cantons of Uri and

, after the

Gotthard Tunnel , it, Galleria del San Gottardo , other_name = , line = Gotthard Line , location = Traversing the Saint-Gotthard Massif in the middle of the Swiss Alps , coordinates = , os_grid_ref = , status = , system ...

and the Gotthard Road Tunnel. The GBT consists of a huge complex with, at its core, two single-track tunnels connecting

(Uri) with

(Ticino) and passing below Sedrun (

). It is part of the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA) project, which also includes the

Ceneri Base Tunnel The Ceneri Base Tunnel (CBT, it, Galleria di base del Monte Ceneri) is a Swiss railway base tunnel in the canton of Ticino. It passes under Monte Ceneri between Camorino in the Magadino Flat and Vezia near Lugano; it bypasses the former high ...

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 A base tunnel is a type of tunnel, mainly a railway tunnel, that is built through the base of a mountain pass. This type of tunnel typically connects two valleys at about the same altitudes. When originally constructed, classical railway lines ...

" since it bypasses most of the existing Gotthard railway line, a winding mountain route opened in 1882 across the

Saint-Gotthard Massif The Gotthard Massif or Saint-Gotthard Massif (german: Gotthardmassiv or ; it, Massiccio del San Gottardo; rm, Massiv dal Gottard) is a mountain range in the Alps in Switzerland, located at the border of four cantons: Valais, Ticino, Uri and G ...

, 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 High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

and heavy freight

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

s. The main purpose of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is to increase local transport capacity through the Alpine barrier, especially for freight, notably on the Rotterdam–Basel–Genoa corridor, and more specifically to shift freight volumes from

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

s to freight trains. This both significantly reduces the danger of fatal road crashes involving trucks, and reduces the

environmental damage Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...

caused by heavy trucks. The tunnel 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 , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

–

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a populat ...

–

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

journey time for passenger trains by one hour (and from

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

by 45 minutes). After 64 percent of Swiss voters accepted the NRLA project in a 1992 referendum; the first preparatory and exploratory work began in 1996. The official start of construction began on 4 November 1999 at

Amsteg Silenen is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. Geography Silenen municipality comprises the villages of Silenen (divided into three parts, Dörfli, Russ, Rusli), Amsteg, and Acherli, besides numerous smaller hamlets or dispersed ...

. Drilling operations in the eastern tunnel were completed on 15 October 2010 in a breakthrough ceremony broadcast live on

Swiss TV Schweizer Fernsehen (SF; "Swiss Television") is the German-language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in Switzerland for German-speaking Switzerland. It has its head office in Zürich. ...

, and in the western tunnel on 23 March 2011. The tunnel's constructor, AlpTransit Gotthard AG, originally planned to hand over the tunnel to

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

(SBB CFF FFS) in operating condition in December 2016 but, on 4 February 2014, the handover date was changed to 5 June 2016 with the start of an 850-day opening countdown calendar on the AlpTransit homepage. As of 1998, the total projected cost of the project was CHF 6.323 billion; as of December 2015, the final cost is projected as CHF 9.560 billion. Nine people died during construction.

Description

The Gotthard Base Tunnel, with a length of and a total of of tunnels, shafts and passages, is the longest railway tunnel in the world,Excluding subway tunnels that lie near the surface. See also: List of longest subway tunnel sections and

List of longest tunnels This list of longest tunnels ranks tunnels that are at least long. Only continuous tunnels are included. Pipelines, even those that are buried, are excluded. The longest tunnels have been constructed for water distribution, followed by tunnels ...

. with a geodetic distance of between the two portals. It is also the first flat route through the

or any other major mountain range, with a maximum elevation of above sea level, corresponding to that of

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. It is the deepest railway tunnel in the world, with a maximum depth of , comparable to that of the deepest mines on Earth. Without ventilation, the temperature inside the mountain reaches . Like the two other tunnels passing below the Gotthard, the Gotthard Base Tunnel connects two Alpine valleys across the

: the ''Urner Reusstal'' in the

, in which flows the river

Reuss Reuss may refer to: * Reuss (surname) *Reuss (river) in Switzerland *Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss * Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line The Principality of Reus ...

, and the

Valle Leventina The Leventina District is one of the eight districts of the largely Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The capital of the district is Faido but the largest town is Airolo on the southern flank of the Gotthard Pass. Situated to the n ...

, the largest valley in the

, in which the river

flows. Unlike most other tunnels, the Gotthard Base Tunnel passes under several distinct mountain massifs, two of them being major subranges of the Alps, the

and the

, with the valley of the Anterior Rhine, the

Surselva Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.canton of Graubünden, between them. The tunnel passes under these two ranges more than below the Chrüzlistock () and the Piz Vatgira (, near the Lukmanier Pass). While the cantons of Uri and Ticino are part of the German- and Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland respectively, the Surselva is mainly Romansh-speaking. The Alps strongly influence the European climate – and that of Switzerland in particular – and there can be substantially different weather conditions at each end of the GBT, described by the Ticinese architect

Mario Botta Mario Botta (born 1 April 1943) is a Swiss architect. Career Botta designed his first building, a two-family house at Morbio Superiore in Ticino, at age 16. He graduated from the Università Iuav di Venezia (1969). While the arrangements of sp ...

: "The light changes at the Gotthard: that of the Mediterranean Sea is not the same as that of the continent, that of the central lands, that of Europe far away from the sea." On average, the temperature is about higher on the south side than the north side, but on some days, temperature differences are well over .See the climate tables of Altdorf and

Grono Grono may refer to: Places * Grono, Switzerland, municipality in Graubünden * Mount Grono Mount Grono () is a peak on Secretary Island, part of New Zealand's Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner ...

, two towns situated near each end of the tunnel. See als
normals/climate-diagrams-and- normal-values-per-station.html?region=Map Climate diagrams and normal values per station
(

MeteoSwiss MeteoSwiss (german: MeteoSchweiz, french: MétéoSuisse, it, MeteoSvizzera), officially the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, is an office of the federal administration of Switzerland. It employs 290 people at locations in Zuric ...

). The north portal lies in the north of the municipality of

at an elevation of , east of the Reuss. There, the tunnel penetrates the western slopes of the Bälmeten and Chli Windgällen (although only marginally) before passing below the valley of the Chärstelenbach, a creek in the

Maderanertal The Maderanertal is an Alpine valley of the canton of Uri in Central Switzerland. It is drained by the Chärstelenbach, a stream that is a right tributary of the Reuss at Amsteg. The highest mountain in the Maderanertal is the Oberalpstock with a h ...

. From there, the tunnel runs parallel to the small valley of Etzli, below the Witenalpstock. The main crest of the Glarus Alps, which is the watershed between the Reuss and the Anterior Rhine, is crossed below the Chrüzlistock, the crest having an elevation of about at this point. From the crest and border, the tunnel runs parallel to the small valley of the river Strem (Val Strem) before passing below Sedrun and the Anterior Rhine. From the bottom of the valley, the tunnel proceeds towards the valley of the Rein da Nalps (Val Nalps) and passes east of Lai da Nalps, before crossing the Gannaretsch range below the western summit of Piz Vatgira (). This is the deepest point of the tunnel, with a rock layer of above it. The tunnel then passes below the valley of the Rein da Medel (Val Medel) and west of

Lai da Sontga Maria __NOTOC__ Lai da Sontga Maria (Italian: ''Lago di Santa Maria'') is a lake, located north of the Lukmanier Pass in Switzerland. It lies almost entirely in the municipality of Medel (canton of Graubünden), a tiny fraction of the south-west par ...

. After a few kilometres the tunnel crosses the watershed between the Anterior Rhine and the Ticino, just north of Pizzo dell'Uomo (). This point corresponds to the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest ...

, and is the main drainage divide between the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

and the Po. For a few kilometres, the tunnel passes below two western tributaries of the Brenno in the Valle Santa Maria before crossing the last range, west of the Passo Predèlp (about ) and east of Faido. It then follows the eastern slopes of the large

, the valley of the Ticino, for about to the south portal at

, at an elevation of , just before

Biasca Biasca is a town of the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Biasca is first mentioned in 830 as ''Aviasca'' in the ''Liber viventium'' of Pfäfers Abbey. In 1119 it was mentioned as ''Abiasca''. Early history I ...

, where the Brenno converges with the Ticino.See

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian: ''Ufficio federale di topografia''; Romansh: ''Uffizi federal d ...

topographic maps with catchment areas layer
map.geo.admin.ch
The closest railway stations to the portals are Altdorf and

. The first regularly served railway stations on the base line (as of 2016/17) are those of Arth-Goldau ( Schwyz), a railway node with links to

and

, and

(the "Gate of Ticino"), with links to

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech ...

Luino Luino (Western Lombard: ''Lüin'') is a small town and ''comune'' near the border with Switzerland on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore, in the Province of Varese (Lombardy, northern Italy). Luino received the honorary title of city with a presi ...

and

(via the

Monte Ceneri Rail Tunnel The Monte Ceneri Rail Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The tunnel is situated under the Monte Ceneri Pass that separates the north of the canton around Bellinzona from the south of the canton around Lugano. It forms pa ...

). The journey from Arth-Goldau to Bellinzona takes not more than an hour. The station of Altdorf is planned to be served by 2021. There also have been talks of using that of Biasca. The travel between Altdorf and Biasca would last less than 25 minutes.

History

Background

Since the 13th century, the Gotthard Pass has been an important trade route from northern to southern Europe. Control of its access routes led to the birth of the Swiss Confederacy. The Gotthard Pass is located halfway between

Lake Lucerne __NOTOC__ Lake Lucerne (german: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the four forested settlements" (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), french: lac des Quatre-Cantons, it, lago dei Quattro Cantoni) is a lake in central S ...

and

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest l ...

. It is the shortest link between the navigable

and the Po. Before modern transport, the traverse of the pass took days, and snow makes it a challenge in winter. Quite late, compared to other current top-importance routes through the Alps (e.g. Simplon, San Bernardino, Brenner, Mont Cenis), namely in 1830, the first Saint-Gotthard Pass road was established after centuries-long usage of a

bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

. From 1842 onwards, a daily course by the ''Gotthard Post'', a stagecoach drawn by five horses with ten seats, still took about 23 hours from

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps ...

Flüelen Flüelen is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History Flüelen is first mentioned in 1266 as ''Vluolon''. Flüelen formed an important transshipment point on Switzerland's transport system for many centuries, and at least sin ...

. It would last until 1921. In 1882, with the inauguration of the Gotthard Railway Tunnel, the travel time between Altdorf and

was reduced dramatically to only hours, though often accompanied with overnight stays in large

Fin de siècle () is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context, ...

-hotels, for example in Biasca. In those days, it was still an adventure and it was only affordable to the rich. Electrification of the railway line in 1922 significantly reduced travel time even more. Refilling water boilers of steam locomotives was no longer necessary. There were also the technical advantages of electrical engines and future technical improvements. From 1924, car transport on trains through the railway tunnel began. The road between

Göschenen Göschenen (German, it, Casinotta, rm, Caschanuttais) a village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. It sits at the northern end of the Gotthard tunnel. The Göschenen riots (1875) saw Urner troops opening fire on Italian miner ...

and

Airolo Airolo (''Airöö'' in Lombard, in rm, italic=yes, ) is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Airolo is located in Leventina valley and the Lepontine Alps, on the southern flank of the ...

through the summit of the pass, comporting notably the Schöllenen ravine and the Tremola, had countless hairpin turns and serpentine curves, dropping in altitude. It posed a huge challenge for automobiles. From 1953 onwards, the pass road was sequentially improved and expanded at several sections along the Gotthard route, finally ending in 1977 with the opening of an expressway fully circumventing the Tremola. In winter, however, due to the snow, cars could only cross the Gotthard on the train. Transit time was further dramatically reduced with the opening of the Gotthard Road Tunnel and the finalization of the northern part of A2 motorway through the ''Urner Reusstal'' (in close proximity to the railway), with many additional tunnels (then leading from Basel to the Gotthard Road Tunnel), in 1980. With the completion in 1986 of the A2 motorway in the

, the main valley leading from Airolo down to

, and the surmounting of the Monte Ceneri between Bellinzona and

in 1983, finally a continuous motorway was established from the northern border of Switzerland in

to the southern border in

Chiasso Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of Co ...

, or the shortest motorway route from North-German

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

as far as South-Italian

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, bringing down the competitiveness of the railway line. Passenger speed was also increased on the railway line with the use of tilting trains, notably the ICN, although maximum speed remaining far lower than on a modern straight high-speed line. Both modern motorway and historic railway rely on heavy rockfall and avalanche protection equipments and are exposed to harsh weather condition in winter. After the opening of the auto tunnel, in 1980, traffic increased more than tenfold. The existing tunnel was at its capacity by 2013. A second tunnel will be built next to the first, following a national referendum. Construction started in 2021 and is scheduled to finish in 2027 NEAT GBT engl crop

As early as 1947, engineer Eduard Gruner imagined a two-story base tunnel from

to Biasca, both rail and road, with a stop at Sedrun, to provide a faster and flatter passage through the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...

. Similarly to Gruner's idea, the GBT cuts through the

some below the older tunnel. On the historic track only the Gotthard Railway trains up to when using two locomotives or up to with an additional

bank engine A bank engine (United Kingdom/Australia) (colloquially a banker), banking engine, helper engine or pusher engine (North America) is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a grad ...

at the end of the train are able to pass through the narrow mountain valleys and through spiral tunnels climbing up to the portals of the old tunnel at a height of above sea level. Since the GBT is in full service, standard freight trains of up to are able to pass this natural barrier. Because of ever-increasing international truck traffic, Swiss voters chose a shift in transportation policy in September 1992 by accepting the NRLA proposal. A second law, the ''Alpine Protection Act'' of February 1994, requires a shift of as much tonnage as possible from truck transport to train transport. The goal of both the laws is to transport trucks, trailers and freight containers through Switzerland, from

, and beyond by rail to relieve the overused roads, and that of the Gotthard in particular, by using

intermodal freight transport Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (e.g., rail, ship, aircraft, and truck), without any handling of the freight itself when changing ...

and

rolling highway In rail transportation, a rolling highway or rolling road is a form of combined transport involving the conveying of road trucks by rail, referred to as Ro-La trains. The concept is a form of piggyback transportation. The technical challen ...

s (where the entire truck is transported). The GBT substantially contributes to the requirements of both laws and enables a direct flat route from the ports of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

(notably Rotterdam) to those of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

(notably Genoa), via the Rhine corridor. Although the technical maximum speed is through the GBT, the maximal authorized speed has been reduced to for ecological and economical reasons, while the operating speed of passenger trains is restricted to in order to accommodate the freight traffic, with the possibility to accelerate up to 230 km/h in case of delay. At opening the GBT reduced travel times for trans-Alpine train journeys by about 40 minutes, and by one hour when the adjacent Zimmerberg and

s were completed. This is viewed as a revolution, especially in the isolated region of Ticino, which is separated from the rest of the country by the Alps and the Gotthard. The two stations of

and

(respectively named "Gate of Ticino" and "Terrace of Ticino") were entirely renovated for the opening of the GBT, among other improvements. As of 2016, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the world. It is the third Swiss tunnel to bear this title, after the

(, 1882) and the

Simplon Tunnel , it, Galleria del Sempione , line = Simplon line, (Lötschberg railway line) , location = Traversing the Lepontine Alps between Switzerland and Italy , coordinates = – , system = Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF ...

(, 1905). It is the third tunnel built under the Gotthard, after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel.

Construction

AlpTransit Gotthard AG was responsible for construction. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). To cut construction time in half, four access tunnels were built so that construction could start at four different sites simultaneously: Erstfeld, Amsteg, Sedrun, and Faido. A fifth at Bodio was added later. The two tunnels are joined approximately every by connecting galleries. Trains can move between the tunnels in the two multifunction stations at Sedrun and Faido. These stations house ventilation equipment and technical infrastructure and serve as emergency stops and evacuation routes. Access to the Sedrun station site is by a level access tunnel long from the valley floor near Sedrun. At the end of the access tunnel, two vertical shafts lead down to the base tunnel level. A proposal to construct a functioning railway station, called ''

Porta Alpina (from Romansh: Alpine Gate) was a proposed railway station to be located in the middle of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, serving the Alpine village of Sedrun in Switzerland. It was intended to promote tourism and the economy in the region of Grau ...

'' (from Romansh, "Alpine Gate"), at this site was evaluated, but the project was put on hold in 2007 and definitively cancelled by the federal authorities in 2012 as uneconomical. The final breakthrough in the east tube occurred on 15 October 2010 at 14:17 +02:00. The final breakthrough in the west tube occurred on 23 March 2011 at 12:20. On 30 August 2013, the tunnel was entirely traversed for the first time from Bodio to Erstfeld in six hours, by diesel train, buses and by foot. On 16 December 2013, the operational test phase started on a stretch in the southern section of the west tube between Faido and Bodio. Its purpose was to test the infrastructure and any ancillary systems. On 31 October 2014, the railway track installation was completed. A gold sleeper on the very last part of the track was installed during the event to mark this milestone of progress. On 1 October 2015, following permission by the Federal Office of Transport, the first tests on the entire length of the GBT were performed, with steadily increasing speed. On 8 November, a train reached the top speed of . Nrla scheme

Allocation of work

Gotthard Basistunnel Portal Nord 2009-06-14

The contracts were awarded in sections: *

(the section from Erstfeld to

), with two

tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore thro ...

s (TBM) boring the two tubes. The break-through of the east tube between Erstfeld and Amsteg took place on 15 June 2009. The portal area was surface-mined. * Amsteg (the section from Amsteg to north of Sedrun), ARGE AGN (

Strabag STRABAG SE is an Austrian construction company based in Spittal an der Drau, Austria, with its headquarters in Vienna. It is the largest construction company in Austria and one of the largest construction companies in Europe. The company is act ...

and Züblin Murer) received the contract for work in this sector. On 9 December 2009, the Amsteg section was officially delivered to the owner for fitting-out, with civil engineering, construction, concrete and lining work completed in early 2010. * Sedrun (the East tube and West tube in the section immediately north and south of Sedrun), along with work performed by Transco (

Bilfinger SE Bilfinger SE (previously named Bilfinger Berger AG) is a German company specialized in civil and industrial construction, engineering and services based in Mannheim, Germany. History Bilfinger dates back to 1880 when August Bernatz founded ...

Implenia Implenia is a Swiss construction and construction services company. Implenia, with its headquarters in Opfikon near Zurich, employs more than 8,000 people in Europe and posted revenue of CHF 3.8 billion in 2021. History Implenia was created o ...

, Frutiger and

Impresa Pizzarotti Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. is a construction and civil engineering company with its headquarters in the Italy, Italian Parma, city of Parma. History Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. was founded in 1910 by Gino Pizzarotti and converted in 194 ...

). The final breakthrough in the west tube occurred in March 2011. The northbound tubes from Amsteg to the Sedrun multifunction station (north) were handed over to the railway systems contractor Transtec Gotthard on 15 September 2011, the date specified in the construction schedule. * Faido ( East tube and West tube in the section from south of Sedrun to Faido), with Consorzio TAT (Alpine Mayreder Bau, CSC Impresa costruzioni,

Hochtief Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Implenia Implenia is a Swiss construction and construction services company. Implenia, with its headquarters in Opfikon near Zurich, employs more than 8,000 people in Europe and posted revenue of CHF 3.8 billion in 2021. History Implenia was created o ...

and

Impregilo Webuild SpA (formerly Salini Impregilo SpA) () is an Italian industrial group specialised in the construction and civil engineering business headquartered in Milan. The company was formally founded in 2014 as the result of the merger by incorpor ...

). *

( East tube and West tube in the section from Faido to Bodio), with work performed by Consorzio TAT (Alpine Mayreder Bau, CSC Impresa costruzioni, Hochtief, Implenia and Impregilo). Civil engineering construction, concrete and lining works were completed in early 2010.

Deaths during construction

Nine workers lost their lives during construction; one in the Amsteg section, two in the Sedrun section, and three each in the southernmost Faido and Bodio sections.

Inauguration and commissioning

In 2016, several events, including festivities and special exhibitions, were held around the Gotthard, culminating in the inaugurations in early June, dubbed ''Gottardo 2016''. Public institutions joined the celebrations:

Swiss Post Swiss Post (french: La Poste suisse, it, La Posta Svizzera, german: Die Schweizerische Post, rm, La Posta Svizra) is the national postal service of Switzerland. A public company owned by the Swiss Confederation, it is the country's second lar ...

issued a special

stamp Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents ...

commemorating the Gotthard Base Tunnel, and Swissmint issued gold and silver coins dedicated to the opening. On 31 May 2016, a day before the inauguration, the nine people who died during construction were commemorated in a ceremony at the north portal in

that was led by a Catholic

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop ...

, a vicar of the

Evangelical-Reformed Church of Uri The Evangelical-Reformed Church of Uri is a Reformed state cantonal church in the canton of Uri The canton of Uri (german: Kanton Uri rm, Chantun Uri; french: Canton d'Uri; it, Canton Uri) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a fou ...

, a Jewish rabbi, and a Muslim imam. A bronze memorial plaque with their names — four coming from Germany, three from Italy, and one from each of South Africa and Austria – was unveiled by AlpTransit Gotthard AG CEO Renzo Simoni. A Catholic shrine to

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in t ...

, the patron of miners, stands inside the tunnel as a memorial. SBB - Gotthard Base Tunnel (30346410681)

The tunnel was officially inaugurated on 1 June 2016. At the northern entrance in Erstfeld, President of the Confederation Johann Schneider-Ammann spoke of a "giant step for Switzerland but equally for our neighbours and the rest of the continent", while a live relay carried a speech given by Transport Minister Doris Leuthard at the southern entrance in

. The first journey carried hundreds of Swiss citizens who had won tickets in a draw, while the assembled guests in Erstfeld, including the Federal Council in corpore, heads of state and government from neighbouring countries and transport ministers from European countries, attended the opening show ''Sacre del Gottardo'' by Volker Hesse featuring 600 dancers, acrobats, singers and musicians celebrating Alpine culture and myths around the Gotthard. On the following weekend, popular festivities and special exhibitions, attended by more than 100,000 visitors, were held. From 2 August to 27 November 2016, the

ran a special train service through the tunnel called "Gottardino" which was open to the public. It was a once-daily service from

Flüelen railway station Flüelen railway station is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Uri and municipality of Flüelen. It is located on the Gotthard railway. The station is situated between the parallel Axenstrasse, the main road through Flüelen, and Bahnhofstr ...

Biasca railway station Biasca railway station ( it, Stazione di Biasca) is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Ticino and municipality of Biasca. The station is on the original line of the Swiss Federal Railways Gotthard railway, at the foot of the southern ramp ...

and in reverse. The trains made a stop inside the tunnel, to allow passengers to visit an exhibition inside the underground multifunction station in Sedrun which would normally be used in emergency only.

Regular services

During 2016, the GBT was tested extensively before its integration into the regular schedule on 11 December. On 5 December, the

were granted permission from the Federal Transport Office to use the new base line. While the base tunnel is used for InterCity trains ( ICN) and EuroCity trains ( EC), the summit line remains in use for regional trains. From 2019 onwards, the Gotthard axis will be served by the Stadler EC250 (Giruno), high-speed train and future flagship of the SBB fleet. From the Amsteg portal, guided tours are organised inside the Gotthard Base Tunnel complex. A window allows visitors to watch the trains running in the tunnel.

Politics

The realization of the GBT, as the centrepiece of the

NRLA The New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA; german: Neue Eisenbahn-Alpentransversale, NEAT, french: nouvelle ligne ferroviaire à travers les Alpes, NLFA, it, Nuova ferrovia transalpina, NFTA), is a Swiss construction project for faster north� ...

, is also a prototypical example of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are repres ...

in Switzerland. In order to accomplish this mega-project the

political institutions In political science, a political system means the type of political organization that can be recognized, observed or otherwise declared by a state. It defines the process for making official government decisions. It usually comprizes the gover ...

also had to overcome many parliamentary sessions and several major popular votes, including the following: *27 September 1992, NRLA proposal ( mandatory referendum): The final proposal by the Federal Council was accepted by 63.6% yes votes (declined by 1+2/2 cantons, turnout 45.9%) *20 February 1994, Alps Initiative ( federal popular initiative): Initiated by a few private people with the goal to protect the Alpine environment from the negative impact of traffic was accepted by 51.9% yes votes (declined by 7 cantons, turnout 41%). The initiative was accepted despite the recommendation by the Federal Council from 12 February 1992 to decline the initiative without any counterproposal, and despite the parliamentary recommendation (both chambers) from 18 June 1993 to decline the initiative. *29 November 1998, Public Transport Funding ( mandatory referendum): A total budget of CHF 30 billion for several public transport projects was accepted by 63.5% yes votes (declined by 1+3/2 cantons, turnout 38.3%); "the NRLA is to receive CHF 13.6 billion" *21 May 2000, Bilateral EU Agreements / 40-tonne Trucks / Heavy Traffic Fee ( optional referendum): As part of a whole package of several bilateral agreements with the EU the Swiss also accepted by 67.2% yes votes (declined by 2 cantons, turnout 48.3%) the shift of an upper limit for trucks from to , but at the same time the EU agreed to a new heavy-traffic fee, which will also be used to finance the NRLA *17 December 2003, Ceneri Base Tunnel (parliamentary session): The controversial funding of the

was finally passed by parliamentary approval only; the possibility for an optional referendum was not raised by any political groups, nor by the public. The then-in-charge transport minister, Federal Councilor Moritz Leuenberger, was quoted as saying "This is the only way to make the railway he Gotthard axis/nowiki> a flat line between Basel and Chiasso."

Figures

*Diameter of each of the single-track tubes: *Distance between cross passage tube: ca. *Numbers of cross passage tubes: 178 *Maximum rock overlay: (at Piz Vatgira) *Start of construction: 1993 (sounding drills), 1996 (preparations), 4 November 1999 (official start, first blasting), 2003 (mechanical excavation) *Breakthrough: 15 October 2010 (Eastern tube), 23 March 2011 (Western tube) *Commissioning: May 2016 *Inauguration/opening: 1 June 2016 *Start of daily passenger service: 11 December 2016 (see public transport timetable#Switzerland) *Total cost: CHF 9.560 billion () *Travel time: Passenger trains – 20 minutes *Amount of excavated rock: , , the equivalent of 5 Giza pyramids *Number of tunnel boring machines (TBM): Four

Herrenknecht Herrenknecht AG is a German company that manufactures tunnel boring machines, headquartered in Allmannsweier, Schwanau, Baden-Württemberg. It is the worldwide market leader for heavy tunnel boring machines. Roughly two-thirds of its 5,000 employ ...

Gripper TBMs. Machine numbers S-210 and S-211 operated northbound from Bodio to Faido and Sedrun and were nicknamed ''Sissi'' and ''Heidi'' respectively; Machines S-229 and S-230 operated southbound from Erstfeld to Sedrun and were known as ''Gabi I'' and ''Gabi II''. **Total length: (including back-up equipment) **Total weight: **Power: 5 MW **Max. excavation daily: (in excellent rock conditions) **Total excavation length by TBM: about (for each tube) **Manufacturer:

, Schwanau, Germany File:AlpTransit NEAT - Baustelle Erstfeld UR (22012331549).jpg, Integration of the portals into the landscape File:AlpTransit NEAT - Gleisarbeiten - Baustelle Erstfeld UR (22010895298).jpg, The new open-air section from Rynächt to the north portal File:AlpTransit NEAT - Baustelle Biasca TI (22066173240).jpg, Start of the new open-air section from Giustizia to the south portal File:Periscopio Pollegio 140515.jpg, The Pollegio Control Centre (near the south portal) with one of the four used TBM cutter heads on display

Operation

Reduced travel times

Safety

The safety requirements on the rolling stock will be similar to those of other long Swiss tunnels, including the ability for the emergency brake to be overridden.

Traffic

Since the opening date on 1 June 2016, between 130 and 160 trains on an average working day operated through the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which in March 2019 marked the 100,000th transit. Around two-thirds of the passages were freight trains and the remaining quota were passenger trains, both national and international.

Projections

The number of projected trains per day was 180–260 freight trains and 50 (65 from 2020) passenger trains.

Passengers

After the opening of the tunnel there was an increase in passengers crossing the trans-alpine line, with 2.3 million passengers in the first 8 months, an increase of 30% over the previous year. In August 2017, an average of 10,400 people crossed the tunnel daily. Train services from Italy to Switzerland through the line are expected to become faster from 2020, with the opening of the

, with an expected further increase in passenger numbers. There are plans for a train service between

and

with a journey time of 2:45 hours, down from 3:50 hours.

Freight

on 120 trains passed through the tunnel each day during the first half year of operation.

Notes

References

External links

*
Gotthard Tunnel Experience
Uri Tourism
Gottardo 2016
official inauguration website
SRF Gotthard – Die Eröffnung
official coverage and background information by SRF Swiss Radio and Television
RTS Gothard – L'inauguration du tunnel
official coverage and background information by RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
Alptransit Gotthard AG official website
*
AGN Erstfeld Amsteg Constructors Web Site
(many photos and designs)
Faido Bodio Constructors Web Site
(many photos and designs) * ;Videos *Aerial views of the works (by AlpTransit AG)
2012201320142015Journey through the GBT (SRF DOK)Flight over the GBT (SRF DOK)17 years of construction (NRLA)
*Corporate videos
AlpTransit Gotthard AG (main contractor)Herrenknecht (TBM)ABB (ventilation)Thales (railway signalling)Transtec Gotthard (railway technology)
;Routes
Gotthard-Basistunnel (6283450)
{{Authority control Railway tunnels in Switzerland Dual-tube railway tunnels High-speed railway lines in Switzerland Tunnels in the Alps Base tunnels Tunnels in the canton of Uri Graubünden–Uri border Tunnels in Graubünden Graubünden–Ticino border Tunnels in Ticino Ticino–Uri border Tunnels completed in 2016 Gotthard railway 2016 establishments in Switzerland