Just four months after it was fully reopened to trains following a derailment in August 2023, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is set to be closed again for renovations. Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) confirmed that due to necessary maintenance work, public transport services through the tunnel will be disrupted in January and August every year.

SBB forced to close Gotthard for maintenance work

In a statement, SBB confirmed that major maintenance work needs to be carried out on the Gotthard Base Tunnel in January 2025. They explained that eight years after the longest rail tunnel in the world first opened, several radio and security systems have reached the end of their operating life and need to be replaced.

The company had initially hoped to perform this maintenance overnight and on weekends when the tunnel is closed, but found that there was not enough time to perform the work required. Therefore, SBB will restrict the use of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in January and August every year. 

The vital maintenance work started earlier in 2024, during repairs related to the derailment which closed the tunnel for over a year, and will conclude in 2027.

What rail services will be affected by the closure?

During late December and January 2025, the vast majority of rail services which use the tunnel will be rerouted via the Gotthard Panorama Route. This will add approximately an hour to journey times between Swiss cities and Ticino. Some InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) services will be able to use the tunnel, but these will be in the minority.

In addition, several timetable amendments will be made. This begins on December 29, 2024, when some IC and EC train services will be cancelled. Between January 3 and 7, some IC and EC trains will be cancelled and all IC2 services will stop in Flüelen instead of Altdorf. 

From January 13 to 24, all IC and EC trains will run on the Gotthard Panorama Route. The exceptions to this are the tri-national rail services between Milan, Zurich and Frankfurt, the first IC heading northbound - which leaves Chiasso at 5.30am - and the last IC connection south, which leaves Zurich at 11.05pm.

During the disruption, SBB advises travellers to check their connections regularly using the SBB app, and to plan for longer journeys passing through the mountains. Luckily, the company added that the disruption in August will mainly affect freight trains rather than passenger services.