Approximately 300 meters of the 7-kilometer-long damaged track are currently being renewed each week at the badly damaged Gotthard Base Tunnel. The estimated cost of the damage is between 100 and 130 million Swiss francs. According to Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), the work will continue until at least autumn 2024.

The derailment of a freight train on August 10th caused – as expected – significantly more serious damage than initially reported. Repairing the track only in the damaged areas would amount to a patchwork solution. Therefore, according to the tunnel operator, the rails along the entire route had to be replaced, as did over 20,000 sleeper blocks and the concrete layer in which they are embedded. This also includes replacing the damaged crossover gate, two high-speed switches, and numerous other safety- and operationally relevant components.

Photos: SBB

For the duration of the repair work, SBB, together with industry representatives from freight transport and railway undertakings, as well as the independent track allocation authority, has carefully considered the situation. This assessment takes into account, as far as possible, the different needs of construction work, passenger and freight transport, and also considers the strained situation and the complex processes in international transit freight logistics and the associated terminals.

www.sbb.ch