Gotthard Tunnel | Current Traffic Status gotthard pass closed gotthard tunnel open north portal Altdorf Chiasso: 1h 47min [+6min] 0 km graph map 0 min ALL ON-RAMPS open south portal Chiasso Altdorf: 1h 46min [+3min] 0 km graph map 0 min ALL ON-RAMPS open calendar WEBCAMS traffic history New data available! With the completion in 1986 of the A2 motorway in the Valle Leventina, the main valley leading from Airolo down to Bellinzona, and the surmounting of the Monte Ceneri between Bellinzona and Lugano in 1983, finally a continuous motorway was established from the northern border of Switzerland in Basel to the southern border in Chiasso, or the shortest motorway route from North-German Hamburg as far as South-Italian Sicily, bringing down the competitiveness of the railway line. Manufacture Franaise des Pneumatiques Michelin will process your email address in order to manage your subscription to the Michelin newsletter. Expect snow on the road. Tech & Science 11 Most Beautiful Tunnels In the World. Services are operated by the Swiss Federal Railways. Your email address will not be published. Gotthard Pass hairpin turns (Mojolo / Adobe Stock) Negative leisure travel impact is expected on the motorway A2 and mainly in front of the Gotthard tunnel. [14] The new base tunnel establishes a direct route usable by high-speed rail and heavy freight trains. The realization of the GBT, as the centrepiece of the NRLA, is also a prototypical example of direct democracy in Switzerland. Here are our tips for making the right choice. The occasion was widely publicised and hailed as a major engineering triumph; the engineer Adolphe Gautier described it at the time as being "the greatest work hitherto attempted by man". "[21] On average, the temperature is about 3C (5F) higher on the south side than the north side, but on some days, temperature differences are well over 10C (18F). Ideally we want to be at the entrance of the tunnel by 6am in order to escape the majority of traffic and at that time well have a 2km queue, at most. This is the deepest point of the tunnel, with a rock layer of 2,450m (8,040ft) above it. Similar topics. [64] From 2019 onwards, the Gotthard axis will be served by the Stadler EC250 (Giruno),[needs update] high-speed train and future flagship of the SBB fleet. [13] It lies at the heart of the Gotthard axis and constitutes the third tunnel connecting the cantons of Uri and Ticino, after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel. It remains a single bore tunnel with just one lane operating in each direction. The perfect traffic jam. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The 57-kilometre (35.4-mile) tunnel, which runs under the Alps, was first. A proposal to construct a functioning railway station, called Porta Alpina (from Romansh, "Alpine Gate"), at this site was evaluated, but the project was put on hold in 2007 and definitively cancelled by the federal authorities in 2012 as uneconomical. Yes. Opponents of the plan fear an increase in . On 8 November, a train reached the top speed of 275km/h (171mph). Yes. We recommend to travel by train instead. When construction finished, it was the world's longest tunnel, at 16.9 kilometers. Electric, hybrid and alternative fuels: what are the different advantages and limitations? In the summer months there is a lot of traffic in the Gotthard road tunnel and so there are often traffic jams. Sit back and let someone else drive, and if you are lucky there may be a family wagon with game boards on your train. updated 02/18/2023, 7:40 p.m. Assistance dpannage pour les vlos classiques et lectriques, Assistance lors de dfaillance des transports publics, Emplacement : A2, peu avant Gschenen, vue en direction du sud (tunnel du St-Gothard). . If you experience bugs or have suggestions, please send an email. To complete your registration, click on the link in the email that we have just sent you. . There were also some concerns over the tunnel's ventilation being sufficient considering the challenging conditions encountered during construction, but it was believed that these would settle during routine operations without the need for extensive intervention. [5] Accordingly, the Gotthard Railway Company was established in 1871 to develop such a route, the company being initially operated under the stewardship of the accomplished Swiss industrialist Alfred Escher. [4] But the Federal Councillor Josef Martin Knsel supported the realization of the Gotthard Tunnel and was against the Lukmanier route. A fifthat Bodiowas added later. Also, by reducing the amount of traffic, which currently consists of over 2000 trucks passing through the Gotthard road tunnel daily (one . It was built as single bore tunnel accommodating a standard gauge double-track railway throughout. [note 4]. From 1924, car transport on trains through the railway tunnel began. It would last until 1921. You can consider donating to support the running costs. The Gotthard Road Tunnel in Switzerland runs from Gschenen in the canton of Uri at its northern portal, to Airolo in Ticino to the south, and is 16.9 kilometres (10.5mi) in length below the St Gotthard Pass, a major pass of the Alps. Public institutions joined the celebrations: Swiss Post issued a special stamp commemorating the Gotthard Base Tunnel,[60][61] and Swissmint issued gold and silver coins dedicated to the opening. In contrast, another tunnel through the Alps, the San Bernardino road tunnel as part of the A13 in the canton of Graubnden further east, is relatively uncongested and shorter. Currently, we are counting 9 Saint Gotthard Pass traffic incidents. Amsteg at 16 km, Erstfeld at 23 km. Does it work? The 14 kilometre queue caused an estimated wait of around 2 hours and 30 minute. On Saturday, 24 July 2021, a queue there stretched 10 kilometres. The Gotthard tunnel was closed from south to north due to a rockfall. Even though spring and summer are the peak times for the tunnel, it can be busy at any time of year, and especially so on the weekends. It was a once-daily service from Flelen railway station to Biasca railway station and in reverse. [3], Following this milestone, a further two years of construction work continued upon the tunnel. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Beneath the pass the St. Gotthard Tunnel (constructed 1872-80) extends for more than 9 miles (14 km) and reaches a maximum elevation of 3,773 feet (1,150 metres). Once the works on the first tunnel are finished, the Swiss government plans to operate one single lane in each tunnel (northbound traffic in the newly constructed tunnel, southbound traffic in the renovated one) in order to maintain the current tunnel overall capacity, in compliance with the Swiss constitutional norm that forbids a further growth of the traffic capacity across the Alps. [3], On 1 January 1882, the Gotthard Tunnel was opened for traffic for the first time. From 2 August to 27 November 2016, the Swiss Federal Railways ran a special train service through the tunnel called "Gottardino" which was open to the public. It also can get quite busy at peak times as people often have the same idea of trying to avoid the Gotthard Tunnel. Swiss Poster Zrich HB (Zrich Train Station). At time of construction, in 1980, it was the longest road tunnel in the world; it is currently the fifth-longest. [4] The Kingdom of Sardinia Piemont then wanted a tunnel through the Grimsel, so the tunnel through the alps would be further away from the Austrian empire. The travel between Altdorf and Biasca would last less than 25 minutes. The 15,003m (49,222ft) Gotthard Rail Tunnel, close to but separate from the expressway tunnel, handles rail traffic on the north-south line in Switzerland. Of all possible routes, Gotthard had historically been a favoured one for the passage of travellers by foot or packhorse. [8][9] With a route length of 57.09km (35.5mi),[4] it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel[10][11][12][note 1] and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps. [11] The reconstruction would have lasted for several years in any variant one variant would push the traffic over the mountain pass, another proposed to load the vehicles onto trains with a new terminal, a third would close the tunnel for several months every year over time range of a decade. ViaMichelin provides real-time traffic information for Tunnel del Gottardo. The pass road culminates about 1,000 metres (3,300ft) above the tunnel, at a height of 2,106 metres (6,909ft), and is only passable in summer. Gotthard Tunnel | Live Traffic Webcams gotthard pass -6 C north portal 1 C south portal 0 C CHIASSO calendar WEBCAMS traffic history New data available! public events). Similarly to Gruner's idea, the GBT cuts through the Gotthard Massif some 600m (2,000ft) below the older tunnel. [3] At the suggestion of the Geneva-based engineer M. Colladon, it was decided to use compressed air as a means of conveying energy around the worksite and along the bores. Separate shuttles for transit and local lorry traffic would . That being said the best times are either very early in the morning (I'm talking 6 am here) or very late in the evening (10pm) or any time in between. Aerial views of the works (by AlpTransit AG): This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 02:24. In those days, it was still an adventure and it was only affordable to the rich. [3] Even prior to the scheme's commencement, such a tunnel had been envisioned as a necessary but singular element of a wider railway network that would connect the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea together, opening up new commercial opportunities by facilitating the movement of goods and people between the ports of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany with those of Northern Italy, along with many of the major inland cities lying in between. The safety requirements on the rolling stock will be similar to those of other long Swiss tunnels, including the ability for the emergency brake to be overridden. [3], While the geology encounter typically comprised rocks of sufficient hardness for mechanical drilling to be used, those of exceptional hardness were often encountered, resulting in even the best drills being blunted and greatly slowing the rate of advancement, sometimes to as little as one meter per day. ", 10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0192:TACAMF]2.0.CO;2, "Bundesrat besttigt vorlufigen Verzicht auf die Porta Alpina", "Final breakthrough of the longest railway tunnel in the world", "Switzerland's Gotthard Base train tunnel is redefining Europe", "Switzerland: First transit in the Gotthard Base Tunnel", "Test trains running on Gotthard Base Tunnel", "The construction of the century takes shape", "Celebrations as last piece of track is laid in record-breaking Gotthard rail tunnel | euronews, world news", "Mit 275 Sachen durch den Gotthard-Basistunnel", "Structurally complete tunnels of the Amsteg section handed over", "Gotthard approaches final breakthrough, Ceneri starts main drive", "Installation of the railway systems in the north has begun", "Salvatore di Benedetto, 21. [8], During 29 February 1880, it was announced that both of the tunnel's advance borings had broken through into one another around the mountain's middle point. The Gotthard Base Tunnel, which runs through the Alps in Switzerland, is the world's longest railway tunnel. Green vehicles: which motorisation for which use? Like the two other tunnels passing below the Gotthard, the Gotthard Base Tunnel connects two Alpine valleys across the Saint-Gotthard Massif: the Urner Reusstal in the canton of Uri, in which flows the river Reuss, and the Valle Leventina, the largest valley in the canton of Ticino, in which the river Ticino flows. The company is a subsidiary entirely owned by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and headquartered in Lucerne. From the bottom of the valley, the tunnel proceeds towards the valley of the Rein da Nalps (Val Nalps) and passes east of Lai da Nalps, before crossing the Gannaretsch range below the western summit of Piz Vatgira (2,981m (9,780ft)). The closest railway stations to the portals are Altdorf and Biasca. If our family travels over one of the public holidays in spring, we always leave early. The Gotthard Tunnel is the core and culminating point of the A2 motorway in Switzerland, running south from Basel through the tunnel down to Chiasso on the border with Italy. It is the deepest railway tunnel in the world, with a maximum depth of 2,450m (8,040ft),[4] comparable to that of the deepest mines on Earth. The tunnel then passes below the valley of the Rein da Medel (Val Medel) and west of Lai da Sontga Maria. On the northern side, the Gschenen entrance was blocked to stop people . It posed a huge challenge for automobiles. The Gotthard Rail Tunnel is the world's longest and deepest Switzerland might not have the longest rail bridge, but it can now claim the longest rail tunnel in the world. From 1953 onwards, the pass road was sequentially improved and expanded at several sections along the Gotthard route, finally ending in 1977 with the opening of an expressway fully circumventing the Tremola. Viewing is optimized for desktop or tablets. Green vehicles: which motorisation for which use? Its purpose was to test the infrastructure and any ancillary systems. To complete your registration, click on the link in the email that we have just sent you. [29] It is the third tunnel built under the Gotthard, after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel. You can install it as an app on your Android/iOS phone. The dashboard continuosly collects different data sources, can track when these patterns change and can return useful prediction. The bonus of going over the pass is being able to enjoy the mountain scenery you would have missed going through the tunnel. There are still some bugs and things to improve, but I would like to have a stable version before Easter. It is the world's longest and deepest train tunnel, 8,000 feet deep at . The A2 (the Gotthard Motorway) is a motorway in Switzerland.It forms Switzerland's main north-south axis from Basel to Chiasso, meandering with a slight drift toward the east.It lies on the Gotthard axis and crosses the Alps.Opened in 1955 under the name "Road Lucerne-south", A2 is one of the busiest motorways in Switzerland. [25][26] Construction started in 2021 and is scheduled to finish in 2027. [10], The Swiss government has decided to upgrade the second tunnel into a full road tunnel in order to allow for the necessary reconstruction of the first road tunnel. Februar 1992", "Bundesbeschluss ber die Volksinitiative "zum Schutze des Alpengebietes vor dem Transitverkehr" vom 18. [20], The Gotthard Base Tunnel, with a length of 57.09km (35.5mi) and a total of 151.84km (94.3mi) of tunnels, shafts and passages, is the longest railway tunnel in the world,[note 2] with a geodetic distance of 55.782km (34.7mi) between the two portals. In past years, annually, more than 10,000 people have visited this spectacular construction site. Following a resolution by the Swiss Federal Council dated October 25, 2017, the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO/ASTRA) will draw up a plan for executing the second Gotthard Road Tunnel tube, which will be presented to the Swiss Department for Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC/UVEK) for approval. The final cost is projected as CHF 9.560billion. Air was compressed by water-driven pumps and stored in cooled reservoirs prior to use; as the air pipes traversed greater and greater distances, the diameter of the pipes used was increased in order to maintain pressure. Switzerland, 1873. The other direct north-south roads through the Alps with similar elevations are: Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of highest paved roads in Europe#Highest motorways, "Verkehrsentwicklung am Gotthard-Strassentunnel", "Second Gotthard road tunnel given green light", "Gotthard-Strassentunnel ist sicherer geworden SWI", "Gotthard II: an extra tunnel but no new traffic", "Bundesrat will zweite Rhre fr Gotthard-Strassentunnel", The official information page of the Gotthard Tunnel, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gotthard_Road_Tunnel&oldid=1115173701, This page was last edited on 10 October 2022, at 04:25. This both significantly reduces the danger of fatal road crashes involving trucks, and reduces the environmental damage caused by heavy trucks. [4] Zurich and Tessin favored a tunnel through the Lukmanier, while Basel, Uri and Lucerne tried to prevent this at all means. Notre vue d'ensemble desmeilleures routes de contournementdepuis toute la Suisse. Ultimately, the final bid submitted by the Swiss engineer Louis Favre was selected as the best offer, receiving a contract to build the tunnel with an estimated cost of 2830 Swiss francs per meter.