Weissenstein Tunnel: In-Depth Analysis of Extent of Renovation

The Weissenstein Tunnel, 3700 m long and located on the route between Solothurn and Moutier in Switzerland, is in a poor state. At least that’s the conclusion reached by a survey undertaken in 2011 commissioned by the route operator BLS. Studies relating to refurbishing the tunnel were carried out in 2012 and 2013. Together with the outlay required to be spent on rail technology and secondary construction costs worked out by the BLS, this resulted in an estimate of around 170 million Swiss francs for a 50 year long period and some 100 million Swiss francs for a service life of 25 years.

In late...