Ceneri Base Tunnel: Current Construction Status and Prospects

The NRLA Gotthard Axis consists, in addition to the Gotthard Base Tunnel, of the 15 km long Ceneri Base Tunnel, the two single-track bores of which are to be augmented by bifurcation structures which will permit additional traffic links. Construction is well advanced; lining installation is already proceeding in parallel to tunnel-heading work, in order that, despite the difficult geological conditions, the still ambitious time-schedule can be met. The following article was part of the 2015 Swiss Tunnel Congress lecture programme.

1 Description of the Project

By creating the first virtually level rail route through the Alps, the NRLA opens up exciting new perspectives for rail transport. Freight can then be transported efficiently and with low environmental impact by rail; passenger travelling times will be drastically shortened. The core engineering works comprising the NRLA axis at the Gotthard consist of two base tunnels, the 57 km long Gotthard and the 15 km long Ceneri rail tunnels. The Gotthard Base Tunnel is to open to traffic in 2016, while excavation work on the Ceneri Base Tunnel is now well advanced, and work...

Related articles:

Issue 04/2009 Switzerland

Ceneri Base Tunnel

The ramps of the present-day rail routes at the Ceneri amount to up to 26 %o - the same gradients that are to be found at the Gotthard. The building of the Gotthard Base Tunnel alone would not have...

more
Issue 08/2010 Switzerland

Gotthard Base Tunnel: First bore completion breakthrough in world‘s longest rail tunnel

The world‘s longest rail tunnel is coming ever closer to reality: the first bore completion breakthrough in the Gotthard Base Tunnel took place in the eastern bore on October 15, 2010, 30 km from...

more
Issue 04/2011

Substantial Mechani­zation for Conventional Main Headings at the Ceneri Base Tunnel

The Ceneri Base Tunnel The Ceneri Base Tunnel is the logical continuation of the Gotthard Base Tunnel towards the South, and it creates a continuous flat rail link through the Alps with the New...

more
Issue 04/2010 Switzerland

Gotthard Axis – Situation in March 2010

The CEO of the AlpTransit Gotthard AG Renzo Simoni reported on progress achieved in building Switzerland’s biggest construction project during the premiere of the 2009 AlpTransit annual film on March...

more
Issue 04/2010

Ceneri Base Tunnel

Significance of the Ceneri Base Tunnel The ramps of the present railway route at the Ceneri possess gradients of up to 26 ‰. If the Ceneri Base Tunnel were not to be built additional locomotives...

more