Railway expansion projects in Switzerland

[bahnause]

Today, the further railway expansion steps for the next few years were communicated in Switzerland. Mostly, these are only adaptations of already known projects.

The most important adjustment is to the Lötschberg base tunnel. Instead of a further partial expansion as previously planned, the entire tunnel will be expanded to two tracks. So far, 900 million Swiss francs have been approved for this. For the full expansion another 640 million are now needed.

Another major project is the third track between Lausanne and Geneva. It is now planned to lay this track under the ground. A 9-kilometre tunnel is planned between Morges and Perroy. This will increase the cost of the extension by CHF 1.3 billion.

Further adjustments are planned for the Brüttener tunnel between Winterthur and Zurich, the Zimmerberg base tunnel between Thalwil and Zug and the fourth track at Stadelhofen station.

Another interesting project is a multifunctional tunnel at the Grimsel, through which a new railway line will run alongside a power line. Based on a cost-benefit analysis, a decision will be made later on whether to build the tunnel.

In total, the Federal Council is proposing to parliament extensions to already decided railway projects amounting to CHF 2.6 billion.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

No doubt the sudden closure of the Gotthard base tunnel for a year or more will have helped the Lötschberg case.

 

[bahnause]

No, that was planned for years. The cost-benefit analysis for a further partial expansion is very bad.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Sharing a tunnel with a 400kV power cable sounds a bit of an adventure, given current Swiss problems with just old fashioned rail wheels in tunnels.....

 

[Bletchleyite]

No doubt the sudden closure of the Gotthard base tunnel for a year or more will have helped the Lötschberg case.

Did I miss something here? Is that minorish derailment going to close it for a *year*?!

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Good to see the investment - it always seemed to be a false economy that the Lötschberg base tunnel wasn't double track throughout from the outset - presumably this means that freight will no longer have to use the classic route because of the lack of capacity? The Grimsel connection has been talked about for many years, so good to see some progress - presumably the Meiringen / Innertkirchen line will be incorporated?

 

[bahnause]

Did I miss something here? Is that minorish derailment going to close it for a *year*?!

This was anything but a minor derailment. Freight traffic is scheduled to start rolling again August 23.

8km of slab track have to be replaced. Plus the door from the crossing. The tunnels must be air-separated. Without the second tube, there is also no functioning rescue concept for passenger trains.

Hopefully, the Grimseltunnel will be buried.

 

[Re 4/4]

Did I miss something here? Is that minorish derailment going to close it for a *year*?!

It turned out to have destroyed around 8km of track and 20'000 concrete sleepers, as well as a tunnel-bore fire door that will need to be remade as a one-off. That was communicated in a press briefing today.

Goods traffic may resume in the other bore end of August, passenger traffic provisionally January 2024 although SBB and the BAV (ministry of transport) are looking at options for amending the tunnel safety case with extra mitigations to allow passenger trains to resume earlier.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Did I miss something here? Is that minorish derailment going to close it for a *year*?!

Admittedly I misread the repair time for the Gotthard base tunnel to last for a year or more into 2025.
But it will be closed, or disrupted, for months at least into 2024.
I doubt SBB has actually got a firm repair timetable yet, though no doubt it will be top priority.

One can imagine the same kind of incident at the Channel Tunnel crossovers.
Luckily HS2 doesn't have tunnel crossovers, except perhaps at the exits from OOC station.

 

[dutchflyer]

Did I miss something here? Is that minorish derailment going to close it for a *year*?!

On the radio news here this morning: for passengertrains will last longer as thought-likely till end of year (no doubt the date of the new timetable will then be aimed for), for goodstrains can do earlier as they can go on lower speed.

 

[Austriantrain]

Today, the further railway expansion steps for the next few years were communicated in Switzerland. Mostly, these are only adaptations of already known projects.

The most important adjustment is to the Lötschberg base tunnel. Instead of a further partial expansion as previously planned, the entire tunnel will be expanded to two tracks. So far, 900 million Swiss francs have been approved for this. For the full expansion another 640 million are now needed.

Another major project is the third track between Lausanne and Geneva. It is now planned to lay this track under the ground. A 9-kilometre tunnel is planned between Morges and Perroy. This will increase the cost of the extension by CHF 1.3 billion.

Further adjustments are planned for the Brüttener tunnel between Winterthur and Zurich, the Zimmerberg base tunnel between Thalwil and Zug and the fourth track at Stadelhofen station.

Another interesting project is a multifunctional tunnel at the Grimsel, through which a new railway line will run alongside a power line. Based on a cost-benefit analysis, a decision will be made later on whether to build the tunnel.

In total, the Federal Council is proposing to parliament extensions to already decided railway projects amounting to CHF 2.6 billion.

Concerning the third track Lausanne - Geneve: are you sure that it (ie the third track) will be laid underground. I rather read it as: the third track has been dropped. Instead, as a first step, a new (I am sure, double-track) tunnel will be built between Morges and Perroy, with the possibility of extending it further ( the third-track had too much risk of being opposed by residents in this densely settled region).

 

[bahnause]

Concerning the third track Lausanne - Geneve: are you sure that it (ie the third track) will be laid underground. I rather read it as: the third track has been dropped. Instead, as a first step, a new (I am sure, double-track) tunnel will be built between Morges and Perroy, with the possibility of extending it further ( the third-track had too much risk of being opposed by residents in this densely settled region).

The german and french versions of the newspaper do not quite agree. I got the version above from "24heures". I think it's very much possible and likley to be a double-track tunnel. Maybe my french is not up to the task either?

 

[MPW]

Today, the further railway expansion steps for the next few years were communicated in Switzerland. Mostly, these are only adaptations of already known projects.

The most important adjustment is to the Lötschberg base tunnel. Instead of a further partial expansion as previously planned, the entire tunnel will be expanded to two tracks. So far, 900 million Swiss francs have been approved for this. For the full expansion another 640 million are now needed.

Another major project is the third track between Lausanne and Geneva. It is now planned to lay this track under the ground. A 9-kilometre tunnel is planned between Morges and Perroy. This will increase the cost of the extension by CHF 1.3 billion.

Further adjustments are planned for the Brüttener tunnel between Winterthur and Zurich, the Zimmerberg base tunnel between Thalwil and Zug and the fourth track at Stadelhofen station.

Another interesting project is a multifunctional tunnel at the Grimsel, through which a new railway line will run alongside a power line. Based on a cost-benefit analysis, a decision will be made later on whether to build the tunnel.

In total, the Federal Council is proposing to parliament extensions to already decided railway projects amounting to CHF 2.6 billion.

Do you have a link? I'm interested to know more details. I often visit my sister in Zurich and am always impressed by their infrastructure. Can't find anything on Google or SBB website.

The 3rd track lausanne to geneva: will it still be 3rd track? I would have thought it wouldn't cost much more to do a double track rather than single track tunnel. But they obviously have done other single track tunnels. I know there's some requirement around having an escape tunnel so maybe that rules out single bore double track. But not sure why that wouldn't apply to a single track tunnel (ie the 2nd bore could be the escape tunnel).

 

[bahnause]

Do you have a link? I'm interested to know more details. I often visit my sister in Zurich and am always impressed by their infrastructure. Can't find anything on Google or SBB website.

What was announced yesterday was basically the changes to a project called "STEP2035". You can find some information here:

STEP2035

There is not much in english I'm afraid.

 

[Austriantrain]

Do you have a link? I'm interested to know more details. I often visit my sister in Zurich and am always impressed by their infrastructure. Can't find anything on Google or SBB website.

The 3rd track lausanne to geneva: will it still be 3rd track? I would have thought it wouldn't cost much more to do a double track rather than single track tunnel. But they obviously have done other single track tunnels. I know there's some requirement around having an escape tunnel so maybe that rules out single bore double track. But not sure why that wouldn't apply to a single track tunnel (ie the 2nd bore could be the escape tunnel).

I would be really, really surprised if it weren’t double-track. The savings are tiny and operationally the disadvantages great.

Contrary to the original plan, it will only encompass a small part of the route, so will probably be used for faster trains to overtake slower ones. In a symmetric Takt, you then need four tracks.

(I imagine that with the original third-track plan, something like Geneve - Coppet would have been done; operationally have a separate double- and a single-track railway).

 

[MPW]

Thanks for responses. All very interesting and looking forward to more developments.

Off topic but I was amazed when going from murren to Zurich after a hike over from the other side of the mountain. Youre in an area that feels like another planet high up a mountain with more cows than people in the spring. All of a sudden you get to murren which is super modern infrastructure with very few cars by rule (farmers and deliveries only i think), get a large-capacity cable car to intermediate station, effectively cross platform interchange to lower cable car, bus right downstairs to lauterbrunnen, train to interlaken ost, then bern, and zurich.

Other rail routes here have cogs for the steep inclines. Buses get you where the gradient is too steep or otherwise not worth the cost of rail. Although sometimes a lot of changes, each segment served a different purpose and connections were incredibly easy and well-timed (5 minutes). It's truly a joy to use public transport there. To genuinely not need a car to get to some of the most remote and otherwise inaccessible parts of Europe, incredible.

 

[The exile]

Hopefully, the Grimseltunnel will be buried.

Tunnels usually are!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist!)

 

[Rescars]

I was amazed when going from murren to Zurich after a hike over from the other side of the mountain. Youre in an area that feels like another planet high up a mountain with more cows than people in the spring. All of a sudden you get to murren which is super modern infrastructure with very few cars by rule (farmers and deliveries only i think), get a large-capacity cable car to intermediate station, effectively cross platform interchange to lower cable car, bus right downstairs to lauterbrunnen, train to interlaken ost, then bern, and zurich.

Other rail routes here have cogs for the steep inclines. Buses get you where the gradient is too steep or otherwise not worth the cost of rail. Although sometimes a lot of changes, each segment served a different purpose and connections were incredibly easy and well-timed (5 minutes). It's truly a joy to use public transport there. To genuinely not need a car to get to some of the most remote and otherwise inaccessible parts of Europe, incredible.

Seeing you've mentioned your trip, there is an alternative route from Murren, by metre gauge single car unit / tram to Grutshalp, then large cable car down to Lauterbrunnen with direct pedestrian access to the trains. This second leg was a funicular until not so long ago. In the absence of any obvious route, does anyone know how they got the tram units up the mountain in the first place?

 

[Re 4/4]

does anyone know how they got the tram units up the mountain in the first place?

There is a narrow road from Lauterbrunnen north to Isenfluh and then south again to Grütschalp. In 2010, in what the local press called a "spectacular day of action", a Be 4/4 was transported up along this route which includes a tunnel with an almost 360 degree spiral!

 

[Rescars]

There is a narrow road from Lauterbrunnen north to Isenfluh and then south again to Grütschalp. In 2010, in what the local press called a "spectacular day of action", a Be 4/4 was transported up along this route which includes a tunnel with an almost 360 degree spiral!

That must have been quite a spectacle!

 

[92002]

On the radio news here this morning: for passengertrains will last longer as thought-likely till end of year (no doubt the date of the new timetable will then be aimed for), for goodstrains can do earlier as they can go on lower speed.

Latest SBB Press release
The Swiss National Railways has announced that a freight train derailment on 10th August in the Gotthard Base Tunnel located on the route between Zurich to Milan has caused severe track damage. SBB expects that the tunnel will only be available for passenger train travel from the beginning of 2024.



As a result, direct international trains will now take the scenic route across the mountains instead of the tunnel, resulting in 1 hour longer travel times. For this reason, SBB recommends catching a 1-hour earlier train from Zurich so as to not miss any further connecting trains. The following routes are the direct international Eurocity routes:

• Eurocity Zurich – Lugano – Milan/Verona/Venice/Genova
• Eurocity Basel – Luzern – Lugano – Milan

For all other international and domestic connections, there are hourly direct trains from Zurich to Chiasso taking the scenic route instead of the tunnel. In Chiasso, one can change trains for destinations such as Lugano, Como, Milan, and Bologna. In addition, many local Trenord trains run from Chiasso into Italy without requiring any seat reservations.



If you happened to miss your connecting train because of this disruption, please get a new seat reservation arranged locally at a train station in Chiasso or Italy.



Check the SBB timetable for the most up-to-date traffic information. Please note that the Eurail timetable is currently not updated with the longer travel times yet – we hope to do this as soon as possible.

 

[EC73LDN]

There is a narrow road from Lauterbrunnen north to Isenfluh and then south again to Grütschalp. In 2010, in what the local press called a "spectacular day of action", a Be 4/4 was transported up along this route which includes a tunnel with an almost 360 degree spiral!

All the old trains on the BLM Mürrenbahn are being replaced with new low-floor trains later this year, and I would expect that route through Isenfluh will be the way for the new stock to arrive. I'm not sure if the old trains will be removed by the same route, or whether they might be dismantled on-site and taken away in pieces as freight. According to the SBB timetable the service is suspended after Sunday 1 October and resumes on Saturday 18 November, so seven weeks to swap everything over.

I believe, although can't be certain, that the 1960s trains were hauled up the funicular tracks from Lauterbrunnen in an engineering operation - an option not available now since the funicular was replaced with the cable car to Grütschalp in the early 2000s.

 

[Rescars]

That should be several "spectacular days of action"!

I assume all the old stock is being retired this time. There was one of the previous generation of cars lurking in the back of the shed the last time I visited Grutshalp - for special events perhaps?

 

[Re 4/4]

I believe, although can't be certain, that the 1960s trains were hauled up the funicular tracks from Lauterbrunnen in an engineering operation - an option not available now since the funicular was replaced with the cable car to Grütschalp in the early 2000s.

That is correct. Funicular and railway deliberately use the same gauge so that was possible.

The very first trains though, I believe, were delivered in several parts and assembled in place at the top.

EDIT: and here's a picture of a Be 4/4 on the way up by road: https://www.bahnbilder.de/bild/Schw...l/689092/blmasm-der-asm-triebwagen-be-44.html

 

[Rescars]

First time I've seen a train delivered in a plastic bag

 

[MPW]

That is correct. Funicular and railway deliberately use the same gauge so that was possible.

The very first trains though, I believe, were delivered in several parts and assembled in place at the top.

EDIT: and here's a picture of a Be 4/4 on the way up by road: https://www.bahnbilder.de/bild/Schw...l/689092/blmasm-der-asm-triebwagen-be-44.html

That would have been great to see!

 

[Re 4/4]

Another train on the way up: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzBXVtYtT_v/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

more photos here:

Mountain Trans' Castor and Pollux Transport New Train in Swiss Alps – Heavy Lift News

For special transport projects in the Alps, Swiss company Wipfli AG based in Flüelen, has a sister company Mountain Trans equipped with their special vehicle Castor and Pollux. On Monday this week Castor and Pollux were deployed for the transport of a new train from Lauterbrunnen to Winteregg...

www.heavyliftnews.com