Lötschberg Base Tunnel
(yellow: major tunnels, red: existing main tracks, numbers: year of completion)
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The Lötschberg Base Tunnel (LBT) is a 34.57-kilometre (21.48 mi) railway tunnel on the BLS AG's Lötschberg line cutting through the Alps of Switzerland some 400 m (1,312 ft) below the existing Lötschberg Tunnel. It is currently the world's longest land tunnel (except for some metro tunnels) and accommodates passenger and freight trains. It runs between Frutigen, Berne (46°34′43″N 7°38′57″E / 46.5787°N 7.6491°E), and Raron, Valais (46°18′33″N 7°49′54″E / 46.3091°N 7.8316°E). Breakthrough was in April 2005 and construction ended in 2006. The opening ceremony was in June 2007.[1][2] Full scale operation began in December 2007.[3]
Project
Built to ease lorry traffic on Swiss roads, the LBT allows an increased number of lorries and trailers to be loaded onto trains in Germany, pass through Switzerland on rail and be unloaded in Italy. It also cuts down travel time for German tourists going to Swiss ski resorts and puts the Valais into commuting distance to Bern by reducing travel time by 50%. The total cost was SFr 4.3 billion (as of 2007, corrected to 1998 prices). This and the Gotthard Base Tunnel are parts of the Swiss AlpTransit initiative.
Construction and usage
Track construction in the LBT was completed in July 2006. Extensive testing then took place, including more than 1,000 test runs, which focused among other things on the use of the ETCS Level 2 system. For the second half of 2007 (after opening), only regular freight used the LBT, plus some international and InterCity passenger trains (without stops between Spiez and Brig); however, passenger trains used the old timetable (the travel time between Spiez and Brig was considered to be 56 minutes until December 2007, even if actual travel time through the LBT was only about 30 minutes).
Since February 2008, the LBT has been used for normal InterCity routes. Travel time between Visp and Spiez is about 28 minutes (about 16 minutes in the LBT).
Completion status
Due to the soaring costs of the AlpTransit initiative, funds were diverted to the Gotthard Base Tunnel; and the LBT is only half finished. The fully complete LBT will consist of two single track bores side by side from portal to portal, connected about every 300 metres (984 ft)* with cross cuts, enabling the other tunnel to be used for escape.[4]
Currently from South to North a third of the tunnel is double track, a third single track with the second bore in place, and a third with only one single track tunnel, the parallel exploration adit providing emergency egress. The construction is divided into 3 phases with phase 1 completed to date:
- Phase 1: construction of about 75% of the length of the West tube and the complete East tube of the main tunnel, the Engstlige tunnel, the two bridges across the Rhône, and the branch bore from Steg. Tracks are laid in the Eastern tubes of the LBT and Engstlige tunnels, and for some 12 km (7.5 mi) in the western tube of LBT, starting from the South.
- Phase 2: laying of tracks in the bored but not equipped part of the western tube of LBT, and in the western tube of Engstlige tunnel.
- Phase 3: construction of the remaining 8 km (5.0 mi) of the western tube, laying tracks on the Steg branch, and connection of this branch to the main line Brig-Lausanne, but towards Lausanne.
Phases 2 and 3 may be done together. Completing the LBT is estimated to cost 1 billion Swiss francs. The project also includes two parallel bridges over the Rhône river in canton Valais, the 2.6 km (1.6 mi) Engstlige tunnel (built with cut-and-cover method; the 2 tracks are separated by a wall).
Operation
About 110 trains per day use the LBT, and 66 use the old mountain tunnel, because of the single track. Of the 110, 30 are passenger and 80 are freight, including both intermodal freight transport plus heavy freight trains. Heavy freight trains up to a maximum weight of 4,000 tons and a maximum length of 1,500 metres have to use the LBT, as they can't use the existing mountain track.
There are about 21 km of single track without passing loops; trains more than 7 minutes late are either routed via the old line (incurring further delay) or must wait for the next available timetable slot in the LBT.
Travel speeds
- Regular freight trains: 100 km/h (62.1 mph)
- Qualified freight trains: 160 km/h (99.4 mph)
- Passenger trains: 200 km/h (124.3 mph)
- Tilting passenger trains: 250 km/h (155.3 mph)
Geothermal energy
The warmth of the water flowing out of the tunnel is used to heat the Tropenhaus Frutigen, a tropical greenhouse producing exotic fruit, sturgeon meat and caviar.
See also
References
- ^ Klapper, Bradley S. (2007-06-15). "Swiss Open World's Longest Land Tunnel". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
- ^ "Huge Swiss tunnel opens in Alps". BBC. 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
- ^ TSR Journal 15/06/2007, édition du 19h30
- ^ TSR "Gotthard: From Dream to Nightmare" "Temps Present" 24 May 2007
External links
- Official project site
- Official site of the "ARGE Bahntechnik Lötschberg" the general contractor for the railway technology
- Site with a movie documentation about the engineering and the works(railway technology)
- MSNBC report on the tunnel breakthrough, 28 April 2005
- Rail Technology in the Lötschberg Base Tunnel
- Image Gallery on a contractors site
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