Weekend Trains Travel Through Gotthard Base Tunnel: Experience the Convenience of Swiss Railways
Published: Sunday, Oct 1st 2023, 19:40
Updated At: Friday, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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On Sunday, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) announced that the five trains running through the Gotthard Base Tunnel had operated smoothly and on time over the weekend, with service resuming on Friday. The SBB said the trains had travelled from north to south and vice versa without any issues. At the start of the autumn holidays, there were enough seats available for travelers in German-speaking Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) announced on Sunday evening. Seven weeks after a goods train derailed, the passenger trains running through the undamaged east tunnel arrived on time. On Friday, the first train from Zurich to Lugano departed. On Saturday, two more trains ran from Zurich to Bellinzona. And two trains ran on Sunday from Lugano to Zurich and from Locarno to Lucerne. The journey through the Base Tunnel reduces the travel time compared to the mountain route by 15 to 30 minutes. The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) are running the remaining trains and those during the week over the mountain route. Due to safety reasons, no passenger trains are allowed to pass through the base tunnel during the weekdays while repair works on the damaged west tube are being carried out. On August 10th, a freight train derailed in the west tube of the tunnel due to a broken wheel on one of the cars. Immense damage was caused to the tunnel, with eight kilometers of track and 20,000 sleepers needing to be replaced. The locomotive driver remained unharmed. The total repair of the tunnel is expected to take months.
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