A freight train derailed in the Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland, blocking passage through a key route linking Northern and Southern Europe.
The tunnel will remain closed until at least Aug. 16 midnight, the country’s federal rail operator SBB said in a statement. Passenger trains will be redirected via the so-called panorama route over the mountains, which will add about an hour to planned journeys of passenger trains, SBB said.
A crisis team is currently working on the rerouting of freight trains, a spokesperson of Swiss association Cargorail said. Some rail traffic could be redirected via the panorama route. Trains will need additional locomotives and train drivers to master the gradient of the route over the mountains.
The blockage of the world’s longest railway tube — which goes through the Gotthard massif in the Swiss Alps — could have a significant impact on the provision of goods for German and Italian companies. A large number of steel tubes, paper and packaging products for Italian companies are regularly transported via the tunnel.
According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, the quantity transported over Swiss alpine passes by road and rail reached a total of 38.4 million net tonnes in 2021.
The accident occurred on Thursday afternoon according to SBB, which plans to hold a briefing later Friday. Nobody was hurt, it said.
“The damage is considerable,” SBB spokeswoman Roberta Trevisan told Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The reason for the derailment is still unknown.
(Updates with details from Cargorail beginning in third paragraph.)
Author: Bastian Benrath and Wilfried Eckl-Dorna
