High-speed rail in Switzerland



High-speed rail in Switzerland consists of two new lines and three new base tunnels, including the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel: the Gotthard Base Tunnel whose length is 57 km. Each of these tunnels have a technical maximum speed of 250 km/h, which is reduced, at least in the Gotthard Base Tunnel and the Ceneri Base Tunnel, to a maximum authorized speed of 230 km/h, for environmental and economic reasons.

The normal operating speed of passenger trains is limited to 200 km/h, in order to accommodate freight traffic, but in case of delays, speeds up to 230 km/h are possible.

History
To address transalpine freight and passenger bottlenecks on its roads and railways, Switzerland launched the Rail 2000 and NRLA projects.



Rail 2000
The first stage of the Rail 2000 project finished in 2005, included a new high-speed rail track between Bern and Olten with an operating speed of 200 km/h.

The second stage of Rail 2000, still in project, includes line upgrades in the Valais canton (200 km/h) and between Biel and Solothurn (also 200 km/h).



NRLA project
New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA; Neue Eisenbahn-Alpentransversale, NEAT, nouvelle ligne ferroviaire à travers les Alpes, NLFA, Nuova ferrovia transalpina, NFTA), is a Swiss construction project for faster north-south rail links across the Swiss Alps. It includes three completed base tunnels several hundred metres below the existing apex tunnels, the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel, the 35 km Lötschberg Base Tunnel, and the 15 km Ceneri Base Tunnel. The NRLA also includes the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel for which only Phase I has been completed, in 2003, with an operating speed of 160 km/h, and Phase II remains in project.

NRLA project is building faster north-south tracks across the Swiss Alps by constructing base tunnels several hundred metres below the level of the current tunnels. The 35 km Lötschberg Base Tunnel opened in 2007 where New Pendolino trains run. The 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel opened on 1 June 2016. The 15 km Ceneri Base Tunnel opened on 4 September 2020.

However, the slow speed of lines between the NRLA tunnels (Ceneri Base Tunnel, Gotthard Base Tunnel and Zimmerberg Base Tunnel to name but a few) means that the capacity of Zürich-Milan services will remain limited until the speeds can be increased, given the strong negative effect of mixed rail speeds on capacity.

Rolling stock


The fastest Swiss train is the SBB RABe 501, nicknamed Giruno (Romansh for Buzzard). It is operated by the Swiss Federal Railways since May 2016. It only reaches its maximum speed of 250 km/h in Italy, on the Swiss network it operates at a maximum of 200 km/h.

The French-Swiss co-operation TGV Lyria and German ICE lines extend into Switzerland, the ICE 4 regularly operates at a maximum of 200 km/h (between Olten and Bern), while the TGV never exceeds 160 km/h, due to the lack of a high-speed track between Basel and Zurich.

The former Cisalpino consortium owned by the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia used Pendolino tilting trains on two of its international lines. These trains are now operated by the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia.