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ICYMI The Gotthard Base Tunnel has been closed by a derailment. [1]

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Date: 2023-08-18

This is a major story in Europe; the Gotthard Base Tunnel has been closed by derailment that happened on August 10, 2023. The tunnel is an incredible piece of infrastructure and a passenger as well as freight route. The accident is in the news now as the extent of the damage has been determined and what repairs will involve has become clearer.

To quote from the wikipedia link about the tunnel:

From the BBC:

..SBB [the National Swiss Rail operator] said that in total, around 8km (4.9 miles) of track and 20,000 concrete sleepers needed to be replaced. The rail operator added that one side of the tunnel was unaffected and should be operating "in principle" for freight usage from 23 August, but passenger trains would not be able to use the unaffected side due to safety reasons. ...The route cuts through the Alps and provides a high-speed link between northern and southern Europe. As well as transporting passengers, Gotthard is a key passage for cargo - particularly between Germany and Italy. More than two-thirds of rail freight traffic in the Alps rolled through the tunnel last year.

emphasis added

The train that derailed had been inspected before being allowed to enter the tunnel, so the accident cause was not something that would have been obvious beforehand.

..The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board believes that a broken wheel caused the derailment. Wheel disc fragments indicate that the train carried on for a few miles with a broken wheel before ultimately derailing. The cars destroyed the tracks while scattering wine, lemonade and other goods along the tunnel. In a statement, SBB has revealed how massive the repair project will be: “Extensive investigations have revealed that the scale of the damage is considerably greater than initial assessments suggested. In total, around 8 kilometers of track and 20,000 concrete sleepers need to be replaced. The track bed is severely damaged in the area of the Faido cross-over. It will take several months to replace all the damaged components of the railway installations. SBB currently assumes that both tunnel tubes will be available for limited rail traffic at the beginning of 2024.”

While repairs are underway, there will be limited freight service through the tunnel. Passenger service is going to be diverted to an alternate route, adding 1-2 hours to the trip with a train change for most travelers.

Some observations

This would be unlikely to happen in the U.S. because:

This is why we can’t have nice things — and why the Inflation Reduction Act could be the start of some real changes to turn that around.

Good luck to everyone working to clean this up, and odds are they’ll do everything they can to make it happen as quickly as possible.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/18/2188055/-ICYMI-The-Gotthard-Base-Tunnel-has-been-closed-by-a-derailment

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