In a statement published on their news portal, SBB stated that normal passenger train services through the tunnel will resume from September 2nd.
Describing progress towards the reopening, SBB stated: “The repair work in the western tube of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is on track. Next comes the test and trial operation.”
For several weeks before opening, empty trains will run through the tunnel to test the repairs that have been made.
Once the tunnel is reopened, the SBB also states that passenger trains will run every half an hour - a first.
READ MORE: World's longest tunnel opens regular service in Switzerland
Faulty wheel to blame
On August 10th 2023, a goods train derailed approximately ten kilometres into the tunnel, severely damaging several kilometres of track and costing CHF 150 million to repair.
Extensive investigations after the crash revealed that hairline fractures in a wagon wheel caused the accident. Pieces of the wheel flew off, causing the carriage to jump the tracks and derail the train.
To avoid a repeat of the derailment that caused the tunnel to close, a speed limit of 160 kilometres will be introduced for trains entering the portal lane change in front of the tunnel entrances.
An essential link
Taking almost 17 years to complete, and decades in the planning, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest rail tunnel in the world, stretching fifty-seven kilometres under the Swiss Alps and Gotthard Massif.
A north-south route, trains enter the tunnel from Erstfeld, in the canton of Uri, and from Bocio, in the canton of Ticino.
An essential link between Switzerland’s German-speaking and Italian-speaking cantons, it cost around CHF 9.7 billion to complete - a massive infrastructure project.
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