, 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 , 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 Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

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, (Cant ...

and Ticino) , coordinates = , system = Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) , status = Active since 11 December 2016 , crosses = Alps (western Glarus Alps 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,

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 territ ...

(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 ''D ...

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 Ea ...

) , 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 through the Alps in

. 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

and Ticino, 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 Erstfeld (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-a ...

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 Rail transport, 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, classica ...

" since it bypasses most of the existing

Gotthard railway 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 ...

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

to Bellinzona 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, 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. with a geodetic distance of between the two portals. It is also the first flat route through the Alps 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 Saint-Gotthard Massif: 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 (House of Reuss), members incl ...

, and the

Valle Leventina The Leventina District is one of the eight districts of the largely Italian language, Italian-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The capital of the district is Faido but the largest town is Airolo on the southern flan ...

, the largest valley in the

, in which the river Ticino 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 Glarus Alps and the Saint-Gotthard Massif, 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 Europe is generally characterized by a temperate climate. Most of Western Europe has an Oceanic climate, in the Köppen climate classification, featuring cool to warm summers and cool winters with frequent overcast skies. Southern Europe has a d ...

– 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 spa ...

: "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 Other uses * Grono (surname) * Grono.net Grono.net was a social networking service based in Poland. It was referred to as "the Polish equivalent of ...

, 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). The north portal lies in the north of the municipality of Erstfeld at an elevation of , east of the Reuss. There, the tunnel penetrates the western slopes of the

Bälmeten The Bälmeten (2,416 m) is a mountain of the Glarus Alps, overlooking Erstfeld in the canton of Uri. It lies west of the Hoch Fulen, in the group north-west of the Gross Windgällen The Gross Windgällen is a 3,187 m high mountain i ...

and

Chli Windgällen The Chli Windgällen (2,986 m) is a mountain of the Glarus Alps, overlooking the valley of the Reuss in the canton of Uri. It lies west of the Gross Windgällen, on the range north of the Maderanertal The Maderanertal is an Alpine valley of th ...

(although only marginally) before passing below the valley of the Chärstelenbach, a creek in the Maderanertal. From there, the tunnel runs parallel to the small valley of Etzli, below the

Witenalpstock The Witenalpstock is a mountain of the Glarus Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Uri and Graubünden. It lies west of the Oberalpstock The Oberalpstock or Piz Tgietschen is a mountain in the Glarus Alps between the ca ...

. 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 Lai da Nalps is a reservoir in the municipality of Tujetsch, Grisons, Switzerland. It has a capacity of 45 million m³ and a surface area of 0.91 km². The reservoir is connected to Lai da Sontga Maria and Lai da Curnera in neighboring valleys. S ...

, 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 part ...

. 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, and is the main drainage divide between the Rhine and the Po. For a few kilometres, the tunnel passes below two western tributaries of the Brenno in the

Valle Santa Maria Pizzo Simano e bassa Valle di Blenio

The Blenio Va ...

before crossing the last range, west of the

Passo Predèlp The Passo di Predèlp (, is a high mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps (Saint-Gotthard Massif), located between the Valle Santa Maria and the Leventina, in Ticino. The pass lies between Pizzo del Sole and Pizzo di Predèlp. It connects Carì Ca ...

(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 ...

, where the Brenno converges with the Ticino.See

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German language, German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French language, French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian language, Italian: ''Ufficio fed ...

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 Zürich, and Bellinzona (the "Gate of Ticino"), with links to Locarno,

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 presid ...

and Lugano (via the Monte Ceneri Rail Tunnel). 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 and Lake Maggiore. It is the shortest link between the navigable Rhine 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 to Flüelen. It would last until 1921. In 1882, with the inauguration of the

Gotthard Railway 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 ...

, the travel time between Altdorf and

was reduced dramatically to only hours, though often accompanied with overnight stays in large Fin de siècle-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 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 th ...

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 Bellinzona, and the surmounting of the Monte Ceneri between Bellinzona and Lugano in 1983, finally a continuous motorway was established from the northern border of Switzerland in Basel to the southern border in Chiasso, or the shortest motorway route from North-German Hamburg as far as South-Italian Sicily, 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 Swiss ...

. 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 gradi ...

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 Basel to Chiasso, and beyond by rail to relieve the overused roads, and that of the Gotthard in particular, by using intermodal freight transport and rolling highways (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 (notably Rotterdam) to those of the Mediterranean Sea (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 Bellinzona and Lugano (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 (, 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 Graub ...

'' (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 A sleeper is a person who is sleeping. Sleeper may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Sleeper (Marvel Comics), a Nazi German robot utilized by the Red Skull in Marvel Comics * The Sleeper (Wild Cards), a character in the Wild Ca ...

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: * Erstfeld (the section from Erstfeld to

), with two tunnel boring machines (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 acti ...

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 Be ...

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 Italian city of Parma. History Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. was founded in 1910 by Gino Pizzarotti and converted in 1945 into a limi ...

). 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 incorporat ...

). *

( 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 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 to ...

commemorating the Gotthard Base Tunnel, and

Swissmint Swissmint is the official mint of the Swiss Confederation. Located in the Swiss capital city Bern, it is responsible for manufacturing Swiss franc coins, both of the currency and bullion variety. Apart from making coins for the government, Swissm ...

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 Erstfeld that was led by a Catholic vicar general, 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. History By the end of 2002, the Uri Church was a member of the Evangelical Reformed Church Association of Central Switzerland . This broke up on 1 Jan ...

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

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 Doris Leuthard (born 10 April 1963) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2006 to 2018. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), she was elected as President of the Swiss ...

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 Volker Hesse (born 30 December 1944) is a German Theatre producer. Between 2001 and 2006 he was the Theatrical Director at Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater. More recently he has been working in Switzerland. Life Volker Hesse was born in the Huns ...

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 to

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 r ...

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 The RABe 501, nicknamed ''Giruno'', is a high-speed electric multiple unit train built by Stadler Rail of Switzerland for the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). According to Stadler Rail, it is the world's first single-decker low-floor high-speed trai ...

(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, is also a prototypical example of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

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 govern ...

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 The environmental movement in Switzerland is represented by a wide range of associations ( non-governmental organisations). The article also present green politics and environmental policies of Switzerland. Organisations Organisations e ...

( 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 He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

/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 Schwanau may refer to * Schwanau, Baden-Württemberg, a town in the district of Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany * Schwanau, Schwyz, an island in Lake Lauerz in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland {{disambig ...

, 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 Pollegio is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland, located in the lower Leventina (valley crossed by the river Ticino). History Pollegio is first mentioned around 1237 as ''Poleccio/Puletio'' thou ...

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 Zürich and Milan 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