Ceneri Base Tunnel receives the green light
The Ceneri Base Tunnel will be available for regular operation from the timetable change on December 13th. The Federal Office of Transport has issued the necessary permit. This means that the third of the three large NEAT tunnels can also go into operation.
The New Railway-Alpen-Transversale ( NEAT ) is largely completed. The Federal Office of Transport ( FOT ) has issued the permit for the scheduled operation of the Ceneri base tunnel, it writes in a message . This means that the tunnel will be available for scheduled passenger and freight trains from the timetable change on December 13th.
The Ceneri Base Tunnel was inaugurated on September 4th. Since then, around 5,800 commercial passenger and freight trains have been run through the tunnel in a trial run.
The 15 kilometer long tunnel is the third of the three large base tunnels that were built as part of the NEAT. It also enables direct connections between Lugano and Locarno. These form a central element of the Ticino S-Bahn.
The Lötschberg Base Tunnel with a length of 35 kilometers was the first of the three large tunnels to go into operation in 2007, the Gotthard Base Tunnel with a length of 57 kilometers followed in 2016. The almost 20 kilometers long Simplon Tunnel has been in operation since 1906. Switzerland now has two flat rail routes through the Alps.
