GAETAN BALLY
These are the results of the Gotthard axis monitoring published on Tuesday by the Federal Office of Transport (FOT), which examines the effects of new construction projects on rail traffic. The opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016 reduced travel times between Basel or Zurich and Ticino by 33 minutes.
The improved rail connections also helped to relieve the roads. On the Gotthard, the number of passenger cars fell by around four percent, which corresponds to a decrease of 1,000 to 1,800 passenger journeys per day. The number of train passengers has increased accordingly. According to the BAV, 60 to 80 percent of the increase in passenger numbers can be attributed to the fact that motorists switched from cars to trains.
The additional train rides are mainly due to visitors to tourist attractions in Ticino. The additional rail traffic also had a positive effect on overnight stays.
Despite competition from foreign destinations and the strong Swiss franc, there was a clear trend reversal for overnight stays in Ticino, according to the monitoring. Accordingly, the extra-hotel business has benefited in particular. While overnight stays fell by seven percent from 2011 to 2015, they rose by six percent from 2016 to 2019.
According to the FOT, there are initial indications that the new base tunnel has also influenced spatial development. Bellinzona has benefited most from the improved development. There, the growth rates of population and employees are still higher than those in the Lugano region, and the same applies to real estate development.
According to the announcement, the population in the vicinity of all the stations examined grew faster on average than elsewhere. Areas that had larger work zones recorded significant growth rates in jobs.
The development of small and medium-sized train stations in the vicinity of urban centers depends heavily on free building land reserves and local planning, it is said. Large-scale projects at large train stations help to exploit the densification potential.
In the canton of Uri, as can also be seen from the monitoring, the rail connections and public transport services have also improved significantly, especially in Altdorf. The population and the number of jobs have grown. Commuter relations, especially in the direction of Lucerne and Zurich, increased. With the full opening of the new cantonal railway station planned for the end of 2021, this trend should intensify, according to the BAV.