31 passenger trains per weekend to pass through the Gotthard Base Tunnel
Published: Friday, Nov 17th 2023, 11:30
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As of the timetable change on December 10, SBB wants to run 31 passenger trains per weekend through the Gotthard Base Tunnel. From Monday to Thursday, however, all train paths in the Gotthard Base Tunnel will be available for freight traffic.
This is the new concept for the allocation of train paths in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, as announced by SBB on Friday. The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) still has to approve it. This means that both freight and passenger trains will run through the base tunnel at weekends and only freight trains between Monday and Thursday.
In freight traffic, the necessary capacities for transit and domestic traffic via the Gotthard and Lötschberg axes are thus ensured.
Reservations recommended
For passenger trains, SBB plans to run 17 trains from north to south at weekends and 14 trains from south to north from Sunday afternoon. The latter will also run on public holidays. A direct train from Bellinzona to Lausanne, which is particularly popular with students, will run again.
With the new service, the number of cross-border connections between Switzerland and Italy will remain comparable to the current level as of the timetable change, SBB continues. However, there will be certain changes: Some trains will run without changing trains in future, while others will no longer run continuously from the timetable change.
SBB "urgently" recommends that travelers reserve a seat. Overcrowded trains cannot travel through the Gotthard Base Tunnel for safety reasons.
For the period after Easter 2024 and especially for the extended public holiday weekends at Easter, Ascension Day and Whitsun, SBB is still examining whether the offer should be adjusted. It intends to provide further information in the first quarter of 2024.
The original plan was to introduce a full half-hourly service through the Gotthard Base Tunnel with the timetable change on December 10. Due to the restricted operations, this will be delayed until the base tunnel can be used normally again.
SBB expects to receive approval from the FOT shortly before the timetable change.
Earlier statements confirmed
The information provided by SBB on Friday confirmed statements made at the beginning of November. At that time, the company announced that the repairs in one of the two tunnel tubes would probably take until September 2024. This follows the derailment of a freight train in August.
Even then, SBB announced that it would be increasing capacity for freight transport during the week and for passenger transport at weekends from the timetable change and initially until Easter 2024.
At the time, the interest group of public transport customers "Pro Bahn" demanded that SBB should make the remaining train paths in the Gotthard Base Tunnel available to the very busy trains to and from Italy wherever possible. SBB now writes that it is focusing on those trains for which there is the greatest demand.
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