Ceneri Base Tunnel Inaugurated
Ceneri Base Tunnel Inaugurated
Railway Gazette reports that the 15·4 km Ceneri Base Tunnel between Bellinzona and Lugano in southern Switzerland was formally inaugurated on September 4. The Ceneri Base Tunnel formally completes the SFr23bn New Rail Link Through the Alps (NEAT in German, NLFA in French and NFTA in Italian) programme to switch traffic from road to rail by providing low-gradient north–south transit routes across Switzerland. This included the 35 km Lötschberg Base Tunnel when opened in 2007 and the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel which followed in 2016.
If international connections can be optimised, SBB expects the NEAT north-south corridor to cut freight transit times by 2 h from December. The day before the handover ceremony, representatives from Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg the Netherlands and the EU agreed to further promote rail transport, issuing a joint declaration saying that rail was environmentally friendly and European networks should be further harmonised and strengthened.
Italy and Switzerland also signed an agreement to provide 4m clearances on the Simplon – Novara route by 2028, with Switzerland to contribute SFr148m and Italy to cover the remainder of the cost.
Read the article in Railway Gazette
Railfreight.com also reported the event, including an interview with Guus de Mol of the Rhine Alpine Rail Freight Corridor. This tunnel through the Swiss Alps is considered the final link, which should clear the entire north-south axis for 4-metre height trains. Earlier milestones on the NRLA were reached in 2008, when the Lötschberg Base Tunnel was opened, and in 2016, with the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016. This December, trains with a 4 metre height can run from the Netherlands to Italy and back.
However although key infrastructure has now been completed in the Netherlands and Switzerland, there are important missing links in Germany which are facing delays.