Update on the Gotthard tunnel closure by SBB

Update on the Gotthard closure from SBB

SBB assumes that the Gotthard Base Tunnel will only be fully available for passenger and freight trains again in the course of September 2024. The derailment of a freight train on 10 August 2023 caused much more serious damage than initially assumed: The track must be completely renewed over 7 kilometres. Therefore, the repair work will take much longer than originally expected. According to current knowledge, the amount of damage is around 100 to 130 million Swiss francs. SBB is examining ways to speed up the construction work so that the world's longest railway tunnel can be fully put back into operation sooner. SBB's intention is that from the timetable change on weekends, significantly more and faster passenger trains will run through the tunnel than today.

Since the derailment of a freight train on 10 August 2023, SBB has been pushing ahead with work in the Gotthard Base Tunnel at full speed. Every day, up to 80 employees of SBB and third-party companies work in the tunnel with great commitment and under difficult climatic conditions. This made it possible to resume freight traffic through the undamaged east tunnel after only a short time. Since the end of September, individual passenger trains have also been running through the longest railway tunnel in the world again at weekends.

Please find the full press release here. (available in German, French and Italian)