Following completion of tunnelling work on the Gotthard base tunnel in 2011, over 40% of the railway infrastructure has now been installed and full trials are scheduled to begin in December this year.

60% of the excavation work on the Ceneri base tunnel has been completed, despite delays due to difficult geological conditions. According to construction company AlpTransit Gotthard (ATG), the Ceneri base tunnel is expected to open, as planned, in 2019.

Regarding the Gotthard tunnel, trial operations on the 15.5-km stretch at the southern end of the west tunnel between Bodio and Faido are scheduled to start in December. Trains are expected to reach speeds of 230 km/hour during test running. The Gotthard base tunnel is expected to open to commercial traffic at the end of 2016.

(Source: RTS)