THE first commercial test trains to run through the reopened western bore of Switzerland’s 57km Gotthard Base Tunnel successfully completed their journeys on August 19.
First through was the 05.30 Chiasso - Basle passenger service operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). The second was a freight train operated by SBB Cargo International from Ludwigshafen, Germany, to Gallarate in Italy.
SBB says trial running will follow on a similar basis to that conducted prior to the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016. This includes repeated cleaning of the tunnel, and to minimise disruption to this trains will run only from north to south through the western bore.
SBB reports that plans for the full reopening of the western bore on September 2 are still on schedule, with a half-hourly passenger service due to restart then, along with resumption of all timetabled freight services.
