The Gotthard Base Tunnel has been closed to passenger traffic for weeks, and the road tunnel has now also become impassable. A crack was discovered in the ceiling on one of the most important north-south routes.
The Gotthard road tunnel in Switzerland is closed for the time being. A 25-meter-long crack had previously been discovered in the tunnel ceiling. At the northern portal, concrete parts had also come loose and fallen onto the road.
“Traffic will be diverted over a large area via the San Bernardino route (A 13) and the Gotthard pass road,” says the Federal Roads Office (Astra). This should add around an hour to the journey. Heavy traffic waiting in Giornico and Ripshausen to continue their journey will therefore be held back. Exactly how long the closure will last is unclear. Astra announced during the day that it expected the road tunnel to be reopened to traffic this week.
If the Gotthard lock lasts longer, drivers would also have to pay attention to night-time closures in the San Bernardino tunnel, said an ADAC spokesman. According to this, the route is not passable 17 times in October due to maintenance and renovation work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in both directions. The Gotthard Pass is not necessarily recommended as a diversion route, especially with camping trailers.
Concrete pieces fell from the ceiling
The concrete parts fell from the ceiling on Sunday near the north portal of the almost 17 kilometer long tunnel. A driver reported to the newspaper “Blick” that she had broken down in the tunnel on the way north a few kilometers before the exit portal. That’s why traffic was backed up behind her. Nobody was traveling north when the concrete parts fell.
The 25 meter long crack was discovered in the false ceiling. Above this is the ventilation, which only works if the ceiling is intact. The tunnel was immediately closed. There were kilometer-long traffic jams on both sides. Buses and other large vehicles that were already in the tunnel had to reverse back to the entrance because they could not turn around.
Renovation of the tunnel has been planned for a long time
The Gotthard Tunnel, which opened in 1980, runs under the Gotthard massif with one track each in a north and south direction. Around 17,000 vehicles are on the road in both directions every day. The tunnel is one of the most important transport links through the Swiss Alps, also on the way from Germany to Italy. It connects central Switzerland with the canton of Ticino, which borders on Italy.
Renovation has been planned for a long time. That’s why a second tube is currently being built. But it shouldn’t be finished until 2029.
The Gotthard base tunnel is also still available passenger traffic blocked
The lockdown comes at a particularly bad time. Since the derailment of a freight train on August 10th, the 57 kilometer long Gotthard Base Tunnel from Erstfeld to Bodio has also been closed to passenger trains. According to the Swiss Railways (SBB), the repairs there will take several months.
Passenger trains are currently being rerouted and travel through several spiral tunnels up to a height of over 1,000 meters before traveling 15 kilometers through the old Gotthard railway tunnel to Ticino. This also extends this journey by about an hour.