Swiss complete trans-European rail route with Ceneri Tunnel under the Alps
CAMORINO, Switzerland, Sept 4- Switzerland officially opened the Ceneri Base Tunnel on Friday, the final piece in a direct, flat rail link connecting northern Europe to the Mediterranean via routes beneath the Alps. Together with the 57.1 kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest rail tunnel which opened in 2016, and the 34.6 kilometre Loetschberg…
By John Revill
CAMORINO, Switzerland, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Switzerlandofficially opened the Ceneri Base Tunnel on Friday, the finalpiece in a direct, flat rail link connecting northern Europe tothe Mediterranean via routes beneath the Alps.
The 15.4 kilometre (9.57 miles) tunnel marks the completionof the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA), a 22.8 billionSwiss franc ($25.04 billion) project dubbed Switzerland’sconstruction project of the century.
Together with the 57.1 kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel, theworld’s longest rail tunnel which opened in 2016, and the 34.6kilometre Loetschberg tunnel, Ceneri completes a system thatallows uninterrupted freight transport from Rotterdam and Genoaunder the mountains.
“It’s the last part of the puzzle,” Swiss Federal Railways(SBB) Chief Executive Vincent Ducrot told reporters. “The goalto have a flat rail line through the Alps has now beenachieved.”
The tunnel, which has taken 10 years to build, runs beneathMonte Ceneri, replacing a steep surface railway which had ahigh-altitude tunnel at the top. Its north portal is situatedat Camorino, and the tunnel breaks through the mountains in thesouth at Vezia, near Lugano.
Switzerland wants to use the tunnel, which is due to enterservice on Dec. 13. 2020, to transfer more freight transportfrom trucks to rail, decreasing CO2 emissions and protecting theAlpine environment.
“The environmental benefit is obvious, but it’s not onlyabout the Alps,” Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga, whoattended the opening ceremony, told Reuters.
“It’s a competitive advantage for Switzerland and asustainable transport policy.”
The 3.6 billion franc tunnel, the culmination ofSwitzerland’s efforts to ease the transalpine journey whichbegan with the opening of the Gotthard summit tunnel in 1882,can carry up to 170 freight trains and 180 passenger trains perday.
The project’s aim is to reduction in the number of truckscrossing the Alps to 650,000 per year, cutting daily CO2emissions by 890 tonnes. Last year, there were around 900,000transalpine truck journeys, according to Swiss Federal Office ofTransport.
Eventually the Milan to Zurich train journey will be cutfrom around 4 hours to three hours, and the SBB plans to rundirect trains to Bologna and Genoa.
Freight trains will also be able to run uninterrupted alongthe 1,400 km stretch between Rotterdam to Genoa withouttechnical hindrances.($1 = 0.9106 Swiss francs)(Reporting by John RevillEditing by Raissa Kasolowsky)