After the base tunnel became operational again on September 1st, the European Commission (EC) took this opportunity to praise the importance of this north – south axis in the continent’s railway network, pointing out that the tunnel’s full reopening will strengthen the rail transport between the North Sea and the Mediterranean.

This base tunnel is an essential transport corridor for eight countries, namely Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, and, of course, Switzerland.

A ‘milestone’ tunnel

The 57-kilometre-long railway tunnel, connecting the German-speaking town of Erstfeld (Uri) in the north and the Italian-speaking Ticino town of Bodio in the south, is not only the longest in the world but also the deepest.

Before it was inaugurated in 2016, thousands of workers spent 17 years drilling through the rugged Alpine terrain to excavate 28 million tons of rock to construct the tunnel and railway tracks.

All that was done with Switzerland’s ambitious aim of building a high-speed rail link between northern and southern Europe — starting in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and ending in Italian port city of Genoa.

Why is this tunnel so important?

Before it was built, both freight and passengers had to travel through the old tunnel, St. Gotthard Pass or the St. Gotthard Road Tunnel, which took much longer to get from northern to southern Switzerland, and beyond.

Aside from saving time, the Gotthard base tunnel allows more merchandise to be hauled through the Alps, reaching Switzerland’s goal to transfer the transport of cargo from road to rail.

The trip lasts only 20 minutes — far quicker than driving along the winding roads through the mountains.

But besides being a quicker and environmentally friendly way to haul cargo through the Alps, passengers have also benefitted from the tunnel, being able to take InterCity and EuroCity trains to get from north to south (and vice versa) much quicker than before.

Since the re-opening, commuters will once again be able to travel this route with a journey time reduced by one hour and, for the first time, at a frequency of every half hour throughout the day.