Planning for the Expansion of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel Moves to the Next Round

BLS is advancing the planning work for the expansion of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel. Starting Monday, August 17, 2020, the construction project for the partial expansion to double track will be publicly available. The project for the complete expansion to two tunnel tubes is being further developed by BLS in parallel.

(Bern) The 35-kilometer-long Lötschberg Base Tunnel is to be expanded technically over a length of 14 kilometers between Ferden and Mitholz according to the will of the parliament. This would make the tunnel double-track for 28 kilometers and single-track for only seven kilometers. The plans for this partial expansion will be publicly available starting Monday, August 17, 2020. The public display is the next step in the planning approval process led by the Federal Office of Transport. BLS is also continuing to develop the planning for the complete expansion to two tunnel tubes so that these plans will be at a comparable stage by the end of 2022 as those of the partial expansion.

Full expansion to be re-evaluated due to eight-month closure

In order to connect the new tunnel section at Mitholz to the existing single-track section for the partial expansion, extensive construction work is necessary on the existing tube. For this, the tunnel must be closed for eight months. Due to this long closure, parliament has instructed the federal council to re-examine the complete expansion of the tunnel, which avoids a long total closure. The results will be presented by the federal council to parliament as part of the interim report on the STEP expansion step 2035. Based on this, parliament is expected to decide in early 2023 whether to stick with the already approved partial expansion or to fully expand the tunnel. Therefore, BLS will wait until that time to tender the main works for the partial expansion. However, it will already carry out certain preparatory work starting in 2022, which is necessary for both the partial and full expansion.

Capacity on the Lötschberg mountain route is sufficient during closure

If parliament decides on the partial expansion, construction work is expected to begin in 2025 and last until the end of 2031. The eight-month closure is planned towards the end of the construction period. During this closure, long-distance trains will operate over the mountain route. Freight trains will be diverted via the mountain route or the Gotthard axis. The capacities of the car transport and the RegioExpress trains through the Lötschberg summit tunnel remain unchanged. In the case of a full expansion, a corresponding project change is expected to be publicly displayed in mid-2023. The construction work will last from 2026 to the end of 2033.

BLS considers direct full expansion to be sensible

A direct full expansion is considered sensible by BLS because it does not result in a total closure of the base tunnel, thus avoiding economic costs and costing taxpayers less in the long run than a staged full expansion. In addition, it would increase flexibility in scheduling and the stability of the service on this important NEAT axis. Photo: © BLS www.bls.ch    www.blscargo.ch