Fast Gotthard route back in operation

Since the derailment of a freight train in the Gotthard Base Tunnel on August 10, 2023, SBB has been working at full speed to restore the tunnel. On August 19, 2024, a commercial train passed through the tunnel's west tunnel again for the first time. It was the early morning train departing at 5.30 a.m. from Chiasso in the direction of Basel SBB. Since then, a trial operation has been running with repeated cleaning runs, an essential step to maintain the integrity, safety, and performance of rail equipment or systems.

Since Monday morning (September 2), all Intercity, Eurocity and freight trains between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino have been running through the Gotthard Base Tunnel again as planned. This means that the trains will be running at the same times as before the derailment, reducing the travel time for passengers by one hour compared to the detour via the panoramic route.

They will once again be able to travel from Zurich to Lugano in less than two hours, and for the first time at half-hourly intervals, according to SBB. In addition, the direct trains from Switzerland to Bologna and Genoa are also running again, as are the Eurocity Basel-Lucerne-Milan and the tri-national Frankfurt-Zurich-Milan connection, on which the Giruno now operates.

On August 10, 2023, a freight train travelling from Chiasso to Basel derailed in the west tunnel. According to an interim report from the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board, the accident was attributed to a broken wheel disk. The resulting property damage is estimated at approximately 150 million Swiss francs.