A year ago, a freight train derailed in the Gotthard Base Tunnel
Published: Friday, Aug 9th 2024, 11:30
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Saturday (tomorrow) marks the anniversary of the devastating derailment of a freight train in the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The accident caused massive damage to the infrastructure in the tunnel. Passenger traffic is still impaired today.
The freight train derailed in the early afternoon of August 10, 2023 while traveling from Chiasso TI to Basel in the west tunnel of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. According to the interim report by the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (Sust), a broken wheel disk was responsible for the accident.
The first freight train was only able to pass through the base tunnel again around two weeks later, and the first passenger train after around one and a half months. After the accident, seven kilometers of track had to be completely renewed, two high-speed switches and a lane change gate as well as 20,000 sleeper blocks were replaced.
The damage to property is estimated at around 150 million francs. The reopening of the tunnel on September 2 is still realistic, as the SBB said on request.
©Keystone/SDA
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