Over a year after a train derailment forced its closure, the world’s longest railway tunnel will soon be back up and running at full capacity, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has confirmed. Regular public transport services should run through the Gotthard Base Tunnel from early September, slashing journey times between Italy, Ticino and Swiss cities.

Gotthard Base Tunnel ready to reopen, Swiss Federal Railways confirms

In the early hours of August 19, the first regular passenger train successfully passed through the western tube of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The 5.30am service from Chiasso to Basel was followed by an SBB cargo train, which also completed the route without incident.

The western tube of the Gotthard has been closed since August 10, 2023, after a freight train partially derailed in the tunnel. While no one was hurt, the incident forced the authorities to replace 20.000 rail sleepers and renew several safety and control systems along a seven-kilometre section of the tunnel.

Since October 2023, workers from SBB and other companies have worked to repair the tunnel "under the most difficult conditions", Transport Minister Albert Rösti told 20 Minuten. At the deepest point in the tunnel, temperatures peak at 40 degrees celsius.

Swiss trains to run regularly through the Gotthard from September 2

With tests complete, SBB announced that all InterCity, EuroCity and freight trains between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino will run through the Gotthard Base Tunnel from September 2, 2024. After the derailment, only a few services were allowed to travel through the operational side of the tunnel, meaning most had to travel on the Gotthard Panorama Route. While the views of the mountains on this route are spectacular, the diversion adds an hour to journey times.

From September 2, journeys between Milan, Lugano, Bellinzona, Lucerne, Zug, Zurich, Basel and beyond will all be an hour faster - meaning the journey time between Zurich and Milan will always be around three hours and 17 minutes. Thanks to the reopening, services will travel between the north and south sides of the Alps every half an hour.

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