West Europe - Area 4

Position paper

The opening of the Gotthard base tunnel in 2017 and of the Ceneri base tunnel in 2019 are supposed to make goods transportation more efficient and to promote modal shift. However, the question of the access lines is still without answer. The existing lines present several limitation which strongly affect the performance of the whole corridor. Because of funding shortfalls the construction of new infrastructures is not to be expected in any time soon.

NEAT flat railway: small, affordable expansion steps

Hupac supports a pragmatic, progressive adjustment of the existing infrastructure so that the advantages of the flat railway can be exploited as soon as the Gotthard base tunnel is opened. The existing access lines can be expanded step by step as part of a transnational corridor concept encompassing the entire Rotterdam-Genoa.

Increasing the productivity of rail freight transport

Long and heavy trains make the best of the system advantages of rail transportation. The productivity of the railways must be increased, also in order to offset the reduction in operating subsidies. This requires infrastructural adjustments on the 130 years old Gotthard line according to the existing European directives.

4-meter-profile for the modal shift of modern semi-trailers

In the last 20 years the rate of semi-trailers in road transit via Switzerland has doubled and now amounts to 60% of all heavy vehicles. In order to shift this important segment to rail, the transit route has to be upgraded to rail profile P400.

Intermodal corridor via Gotthard and Simplon – the required measures

• Train lengths 750 m, train weights 2,000 t: essential for the productivity and competitiveness of rail
• 4-metre P400 profile as per international UIC standard for main transport routes: essential for shifting the important segment of high-volume transport
• Piattaforma Luino and Simplon Phase II: expansion to train lengths of up to 750 metres; implementation on schedule
• Priority for the intermodal corridor via Luino and Domodossola, which serves the existing Busto Arsizio and Novara terminals and handles over 60% of intermodal transport
• Terminals east of Milan for the new Seregno-Bergamo line with a capacity of 30 train pairs per day
• No funding of the intermodal corridor at the expense of operating subsidies: risk of reverse shift!