- A Eurocity got stuck in the Gotthard base tunnel on Saturday afternoon due to a catenary fault.
- According to an SBB spokeswoman, there were around 800 passengers on the train.
- Rail traffic on the north-south axis was blocked for several hours from 1 p.m.
The breakdown train is the Eurocity 317, which left Zurich at 11:33 a.m. in the direction of Como. The Giruno in double traction should have arrived in Bellinzona at 1.12 p.m. – but got stuck in the Gotthard base tunnel just before 1 p.m.
The reason for the breakdown was a catenary fault in the east tube, as SBB confirmed on request. Around 800 passengers had to be brought to the west tube via a cross connection and were evacuated from there in the direction of Lugano.
East tube of the Gotthard tunnel is being repaired
This lasted until just before 4 p.m., as Barbara Schaffner says. The GLP National Councilor sat on the breakdown train and told SRF on the phone how the evacuation went: “Everything went smoothly, some people saw it as an adventure.”
Rail traffic on the north-south axis was blocked for several hours from 1 p.m. According to the SBB, the east tube is now being repaired, but how long this will take is currently unknown. According to the SBB, traffic will initially be single-track through the tunnel. This resulted in delays of around ten minutes. It was said that only a few trains would be diverted over the panorama route.
It’s not the first time a train has gotten stuck in the Gotthard Base Tunnel. As early as June 27, 2021, a Eurocity with 600 people got stuck.