An ICE-S measuring train performed a 275 km/h test in the Ceneri Base Tunnel reaching this speed for the first time. The test took place during the night on April 30 – May 1, 2020.
Since April 20 test operations in the Ceneri Base Tunnel have been in full swing in a strict compliance with the requirements of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. Until the handover of the tunnel to SBB on September 1, numerous further test drives are planned on the 15.4 km long base tunnel between Camorino and Vezia under Swiss Alps.
After receiving approval from the Federal Office of Transport on February 17, AlpTransit Gotthard AG started the test operations as planned on March 1. The first test was performed with the ETCS Level 2 system and in addition, the SBB radio test vehicle began to be used for tests on the GSM-R digital radio and tunnel radio network.
Due to coronavirus pandemic, the tests were interrupted in mid-March 2020 and the scheduled was revised. On April 20, the test on the Ceneri Base Tunnel started with an especially equipped ICE-S measuring train leased from Germany running at the southern portal of the Gotthard corridor.
Following approval from the Ticino Canton, AlpTransit Gotthard resumed on April 6 the maintenance and installation work in the tunnel.
The 15.4 km Ceneri Base Tunnel consists of two single-track tubes around 40 metres apart, which are linked to each other every 325 metres by cross-passages. Because of the tunnel’s shorter length, no track crossovers or multifunction stations are needed. For the connections to the existing railway network, various structures were built at the Camorino hub, including a new four-lane bridge over the A2 motorway and two single-track railway viaducts over the four-lane cantonal road.
The tunnel under the Ceneri continues on a flat route from Altdorf to Lugano. It is Switzerland’s third-largest railway tunnel, after Gotthard and Lötschberg tunnels.
The Ceneri Base Tunnel is planned to enter commercial operation in December 2020.
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