European Railroad Discussion > Gotthard Pass question

With the opening of the Base tunnel, what will become of the old line via the original tunnel?

Cheers,
Nick

NGotwalt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With the opening of the Base tunnel, what will
> become of the old line via the original tunnel?
>
> Cheers,
> Nick

Not sure.  But, last month I went through it on the William Tell.  Unlike their other scenic tourist trains, the William Tell is a regular passenger train with  just a tourist 1st class scenic car on it.  On a clear sunny day, we took a steam paddle wheel ferry from Luzern to the other end of Lake Luzern where we boarded the William Tell..The ferry was alot of fun.  The William Tell, not so much.  As expected, going through the tunnel was very boring and took forever.

We also took the Bernina Express which is a dedicate tourist train also on a clear sunny day.  The train only contain scenic tourist cars.  This trip was fantastic and rates one of the best train trips that I have been on.

I believe that a regional train service will still use the original line

NGotwalt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With the opening of the Base tunnel, what will
> become of the old line via the original tunnel?
>
> Cheers,
> Nick

Regional trains (Stadler Flirts) will run Zug - Göschenen and Bellinzona - Airolo. The William Tell Express will be replaced by a new train called the Gotthard Panoramic Express which will run through the summit tunnel during the summer tourist season. There might be additional services if the Schweizerische Südostbahn has its way and runs local services over the pass.

I was wondering since Gotthard Pass Line is double track, doesn't sound like they'll need both anymore, wonder if there would be any sense in regauging one track so the MGB could run down to Fleulen or Altdorf from Goschenen, of course, this puts the MGB within 20 miles of the Zentral Bahn and a direct link with Lucerne and Interlaken which could be be built at a future time. It's of course a pie in the sky thought, but I noticed it looking at the map the other day.
Cheers,
Nick

They will surely need both tracks to the entrance to the base tunnel which is between Altdorf and Erstfeld. They will also need track space to stage freight trains in the Altdorf area since they plan to run a passenger train immediately followed by two freight trains. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/16 10:19 by SOO6617.