Train passengers between north and southernmost Switzerland will have to skip the world’s longest train tunnel and go back to the longer scenic route for months, rail authorities have said, after a freight service derailed and tore up the track. Sixteen cars that jumped the tracks in last Thursday’s derailment remained stuck inside the 57km (35-mile) long Gotthard base tunnel in the southern Ticino region, national railway operator SBB said on Wednesday. The tunnel is a crucial thoroughfare for goods and cargo, particularly between Germany to the north and Italy to the south. In 2022, more than two-thirds of rail freight traffic through the Alps passed through the tunnel, according to the Swiss government. One side of the tunnel – the tube that was unaffected in the derailment – should be operable “in principle” starting next Wednesday for cargo trains, SBB said, but passenger train traffic would have to wait for months.

Source: The Guardian August 17, 2023 09:05 UTC