BIASCA, Switzerland — The closure of the Gotthard Base Tunnel will extend beyond the original estimated reopening date of Aug. 16, SBB, the Swiss Federal Railways has announced.
The latest update on the SBB website (in German, as translated by Google) reports investigators have partially released control of the accident scene within the base tunnel, and the locomotive and freight cars that remained on the tracks have been removed. Some 16 derailed cars remain in the tunnel. While SBB has begun “extensive clean-up work,” a complete overview of the damage is not yet possible and planning for repairs has not yet begun, so traffic will continue beyond Aug. 16. SBB now aims to provide more information on the status of the cleanup and tunnel reopening on the 16th.
Passenger trains continue to be diverted via the historic Gotthard Pass route, while freight will continue to be diverted via Gotthard Pass or the Lötschberg-Simplon route, or held elsewhere. SBB’s statement said passenger capacity was “sufficient” last weekend, even though about 30% fewer seats are available because the older route cannot accommodate bilevel passenger equipment.
Twenty-three cars of a northbound freight train derailed on Aug. 10 at a crossover point within the tunnel, damaging gates needed to separate the two tubes of the tunnel in case of an emergency [see “Broken wheel blamed …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 14, 2023].
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