Transalpino

THE GREAT ALPINE PROJECTS in the second half of the 19th Century made world headlines, including the Semmering (1851), the St. Gotthard Pass (1882), and the Simplon (1906).

Now, at the turn of the 21st Century, the trans-Alpine system is embarking on another visionary phase.

The people of Switerzland have already voted for a clear mandate (29th Nov 1989): a consolidation of the rail network into the next century. The political will has been found, and so has the project finance.

At 30 billion Swiss Francs, the national plan is driven by the economic opportunities for a direct transAlpine route, and well-founded fears over the alarming growth in road traffic across the precious Alpine environment.

Even a meagre conversion of existing road freight-to-rail is seen as having considerable environmental benefits: the new project will facilitate that conversion, with implications for the entirety of the pan-European network. . .

The result: a strategic enhancement of overall rail traffic along the Franco-Swiss-Italian corridors.

The solution in the making: the creation - by consolidation of the existing 19th-Century infrastructure - of two distinct North-South axes through the ancient geological base. The combined impact of the North-South axes-projects represent nothing less than a breakthrough for world rail transport.

A subsidiary of Swiss Rail (SBB) - AlpTransit - has responsibility for the core project, which should be operational by 2011.

Overall, the scheme comprises two distinct projects that will link the Northern and Southern borders of the Alps: the Zimmerberg-Gottgard-Ceneri tunnel-system alignment; and (to the West) the Lötschberg tunnel alignment.

The Gotthard base tunnel
At the heart of the trans-Alpine system is the Gotthard Base Tunnel project. Since 1992, the project has been under planning. In 1996, construction started, and at 57 km (35 miles) on completion - it will form the world's longest tunnel.

The design is for two 57-km single tunnels, with a gallery of inter-connecting tunnels, instead of a service tunnel.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (57 km) is, then, linked into the overall Zurich-Lugano alignment by, to the north, the Zimmerberg (20 km) and the Ceneri (16 km), to the south.

A note on geology
The existing 15-km Gotthard tunnel (built in 1882 during the age of steam) is a high-altitude affair when compared with the new scheme, which bores through the ancient base of the Alps.

Over millions of years, the Africa continental plate has collided with Europe, such that the ancient sediments were thrown-up to form vertical pillars or alternate layers of rock: the Alps.

The backbone of the Alps is formed by the Aar and Gotthard massifs, which are made up mostly of granite and gneiss.

Along the 57-km portal-to-portal route, the tunnel bore must pass through a veritable layer-cake: from the hard granite of the Gotthard massif, to the soft rock of the Tavetsch intermediate massif, and onwards through high-stress Pennine gneiss zone to the south.

At the extreme, the selected tunnel route passes under a 2,300 m overburden of rock.

An anomaly along the route occurs in the form of the "Piora syncline" - a hitherto unknown geological feature. After extensive exploratory borehole tests, this proved to be a solid structure, with no water infiltration: a positive result for the entire project.

TranAlpine prospects: passenger and freight
The new through-route will reduce journey times for both high-speed passenger and freight. Today, passenger trains between Zurich-Milano take 4hrs-10 min; by 2011, this will be reduced to 2 hrs 40 min. The TransAlpine will be 24 hrs-operational, with 100 passenger trains a day running at up to 250 km/hr making the journey.

At present, the freight capacity along the route is 140 trains/day moving 20 m-tonnes per annum; this will increase to 220 trains/day, moving 42 m-tonnes, and then 56 m-tonnes per annum. Policy background: the traffic problem in perspective.

In the years 1970-1998, Switzerland experienced an increase in road traffic of 1,140 per cent - notably since the opening of the St. Gotthard road tunnel 20 years ago. In the same period, rail freight has increased by only 37 per cent.

As as result, road haulage doubles about every eight years, but rail traffic remains static. At present, the road haulage limit is 28-tonnes (but, since last May, up to 40 tonnes if carried by rail).

International trade has grown faster than Swiss domestic trade; however, internal, and traffic and between Switzerland an Italy, is greater than transit traffic, which is able to short- cut-through Austria and France (and avoid Swiss tonnage limits).

In 1998, the Commission of the European Union (EU) published a report examining transport trends over the Alpine system. The study indicated that, for the period 1992-2010, transAlpine multi-modal traffic is set to rise by at least 75 per cent. In Switzerland, there has been a fundamental policy shift which seeks to transfer the traffic from road to rail - and, preferably, with an emphasis on rail.

As a result of these imbalances, the Swiss have embarked on a a national development plan for transport and the environment in the context of pan-European developments.

Swiss development plan
Over the next 20 years, 30 billion francs will be invested the policy. Of this, 14 billion will go to the TransAlpine, and AlpTransit's Gotthard base Tunnel project will cost in the region of 7 billion francs.

The Lötschberg tunnel, the second North-South axis project, is to cost about 12 per cent of the total - or 3.6 billion francs.

In spite of the critics, the Swiss people have supported a package of measures to finance the plan, through: Oil Tax (10 per cent); Loans (15 per cent); Heavy Vehicle Tax (55 per cent), and a 1% increase in VAT (20 per cent).

From all of this, the political message seems clear enough: the TransAlpine will facilitate the envisaged growth in international traffic, and it will do so with minimal impact on the Alpine ecosystem. The Confederation of Switzerland, though still not a part of the EU, seems determined to play its part - by rail - at the heart of Europe. © James A. Oliver 2001

Posted: 5 March 2001

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