Traffic
Concrete collapsed, cracks in ceiling: Gotthard road tunnel closed
A car leaves the south portal of the Gotthard road tunnel – it is currently closed. photo
© Alessandro Crinari/KEYSTONE/TI-PRESS/dpa
First a derailment in the Gotthard railway tunnel, now a crack in the ceiling. Passenger traffic is being rerouted. Anyone who wants to go from the north of the Swiss Alps to the south side needs patience.
A crack in the ceiling of the Gotthard road tunnel has serious consequences for one of the most important north-south connections through the Swiss Alps. The tube will remain closed until further notice, reported the Federal Roads Office (Astra). Traffic is being rerouted via pass roads. This should add around an hour to the journey. “The duration of the closure is not yet known,” the office said.
On Sunday, concrete parts suddenly fell from the ceiling near the north portal of the almost 17 kilometer long tunnel. According to the office, no one was injured. A driver told the newspaper “Blick” that she had a breakdown on Sunday in the tunnel while driving north a few kilometers before the exit portal. That’s why traffic was backed up behind her and no one was traveling north when the concrete parts fell.
25 meter long crack
A 25 meter long crack was discovered in the false ceiling. Above the false ceiling 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.
The Gotthard tunnel, opened in 1980, runs under the Gotthard massif with one track each going north and south. The entrance and exit are at a good 1000 meters above sea level. 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. Traffic will then flow through the second tube until the first one is modernized. Both tubes should be available from 2032. However, there should only be one lane in each direction. There are no plans to increase capacity.
If the Gotthard closure lasts longer, drivers will also have to pay attention to night-time closures in the San Bernardino Tunnel, said an ADAC spokesman. The route was 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.
The 57 kilometer long Gotthard Base Tunnel from Erstfeld to Bodio is also currently closed to passenger traffic following the derailment of a freight train on August 10th. According to the Swiss Railways (SBB), the repairs there will take several months. A good four weeks after the accident, there were still damaged wagons in the tunnel in September. Passenger trains are now being diverted 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.