Controls News 13
50
Reference projects:
34
km Lötschberg Base Tunnel
The route from
«
non-Lean
»
to
«
Lean
»
The mistakes from the construction phase are being corrected. After 2 years of operation,
the railway company BLS started to plan the project «New tunnel control technology».
Author: Rolf Müller
From the political process
to the construction of the tunnel
Switzerland does not want to be a road
corridor for 40-tonne lorries but decided,
in pioneering referendums, in favour of
developing rail transport.
1992:
Referendum on Alptransit Decision
with the EU (EU Transit Agreement)
1993:
Referendum on NEAT (New Alpine Rail
Axes), loan of 30 billion Swiss francs
for the development of the railways
over the next 20 years
1994:
Referendum on the Alpine Initiative
(
no further expansion of trans-Alpine
roads in order to protect the Alps)
1995:
Founding of the tunnel construction
company BLS Alptransit AG and start
of construction of exploration tunnel
1999:
Start of construction of Base Tunnel
2005:
Base Tunnel breakthrough ceremony
2007:
Opening ceremony and start of
operation
Source of images/graphics: BLS Netz AG
The Lötschberg Base Tunnel was built in Switzerland
as a double-tube single-track railway tunnel between
1999
and 2007 and has been in operation since 16
June 2007. It crosses below the northern Alpine range
in Lötschberg. On the north-south route, the approx.
34
km long tunnel brings about a significant increase
in efficiency for freight and tourist traffic. The hub
of Switzerland has become even more attractive as
a result of this significant increase in capacity for in-
ternational rail traffic. However, as the operator of
the tunnel BLS Netz AG found in the first two years
of operation that the maintenance costs for the infra-
structure technology were twice as high as the pure
operating costs (management, energy). In order to
place the operation of the tunnel on an economically
viable footing, after three years of operation BLS Netz
AG decided upon the project «New tunnel control
technology».
Realisation 1999–2007
BLS Alptransit AG was responsible for the building of the tunnel as the constructor.
The top priority for the constructor was to keep within deadlines and budgets.
The tunnel was roughly divided into three system areas: Tunnel Shell, Technical Infra-
structure and Railway Technology.
Tunnel shell
–
Construction of tunnel
–
Caverns
–
Drainage
–
Cross tubes
Technical infrastructure
–
Water supply
–
Building ventilation
–
Low voltage power/lighting
–
Air-conditioning
Railway technology
–
Track
–
Overhead contact system
–
Safety installations/fire protection
–
Speakers/video
–
Doors and gates
–
Evacuation
–
Radio
System areas in the Lötschberg Base Tunnel
–
Safety systems
–
Train control system
Rolling motorway (RoMo)
at the south portal
Spiez
As part of the European high
speed rail network for passenger
and freight traffic between the
North Sea and the Mediterra-
nean, the Lötschberg Base Tunnel
that crosses below the Alps is the
central piece of the jigsaw.
Emmerich
Köln
Mannheim
Karlsruhe
Rotter-
dam Betuwe-
Linie
Erstfeld
Bellinzona
Chiasso
Milano
Genova
NEAT
Gotthard
Basel
Bern
Brig
Luino
Novara
Domodossola
Simplon
NEAT
Lötschberg
en1350
