Rail conquers the Alps

INTELLIGENCE | ANALYSIS
220 km/h in the Gotthard Base Tunnel
Photos: Lorenz Degen
Drivers’ eye view.
Around 10% of
the twin-bore
base tunnel is
now available
for test running
(above), using a
trainset leased
from SBB (right).
SWITZERLAND: With the Gotthard
Base Tunnel expected to be
handed over for regular service in little
more than two years, test running
is underway on a 13 km section at the
southern end of the western bore. Last
month Railway Gazette was invited by
Transtec Gotthard to join a test train
between the southern portal at Pollegio
in Ticino and the Faido emergency
station deep inside the tunnel.
Project manager Alp Transit Gotthard
AG selected the Transtec Gotthard
group to undertake the railway
Record ridership in ‘a challenging year’
SWITZERLAND: The average number of passengers
carried on Swiss Federal Railways passed the million
passengers/day mark for the first time in 2013, the
operator revealed on March 25. Reporting its annual
results for the year, SBB also announced that its
freight business had achieved a positive net income
for the first time in more than 40 years.
In what it described as ‘a challenging year’, SBB’s
consolidated net income fell from SFr422·5m in 2012
to SFr238·2m, with free cash flow after public-sector
funding down from SFr905·8m to SFr652·9m. This
reflected a SFr332·1m increase in operating expenses
and investments totalling SFr3 562·2m, as well as
some one-off transactions in 2012.
The average ridership of 1 002 000 passengers/
day was up 3·7% on 2012, while total passenger-km
were up 1·3% to 17·8 billion. SBB said this was largely
because of improved services in French-speaking
Switzerland, where it was offering 30% more seats
and 14 additional trains, as well as the launch of a
2 trains/h Zürich – Schaffhausen service.
Traffic in the ‘self-financing’ long-distance passenger
business was up 1·4% to 13·1 billion passengerkm,
while ridership on the subsidised regional services
increased by 1·0% to 4·7 billion passenger-km. Fare
increases averaging 5·2% in December 2012 covered
80% of the SFr163m increase in train-path costs, but
higher access charges and the expenses from running
more services ‘drastically’ cut the Passenger Division’s
operating surplus to SFr96·1m from SFr268·9m the
year before. Meanwhile, the proportion of passengers
systems fit-out in the 57 km base
tunnel (RG 7.11 p42). Balfour Beatty
Rail and Renaissance Construction
(formerly Alpine Bau) are responsible
for the track, while Balfour Beatty is
working with Kummler+Matter to
install the 15 kV 16·7 Hz traction supply.
Other 50 Hz power supplies and
wiring are being provided by Alpiq
Burkhalter Technik, while telecommunications
and signalling are being
supplied by Alcatel-Lucent Schweiz
and Thales respectively.
The testing programme is intended
reaching their destinations within 3 min of the advertised
time fell from 88·0% to 87·5%.
All 1 018 long-distance coaches are to be fitted
with mobile phone signal amplifiers by the end of
2014, and the possibility of equipping the regional
fleet is being discussed with network operators ‘as a
matter of urgency’. By the end of 2015 free wi-fi will
be available at the 100 busiest stations.
In the ‘highly competitive’ freight sector, SBB
Cargo’s traffic grew 1·5% to 12·3 billion tonne-km.
Freight revenues rose by 4·7%, enabling the operator
to post a positive net income of SFr14·7m, which was
SFr65·9m better than the previous year. However,
SBB warns that the market ‘remains challenging both
nation ally and internationally, and competitive pressure
from road transport remains heavy’.
SBB’s Infrastructure Division reported an overall
loss of SFr72·3m in 2013, compared to a profit of
SFr37·1m in 2012. Train-km rose by 2·7% to 170·0
million, and in the first few months of the year the
volume of maintenance work exceeded forecasts by
SFr128·6m. A new diagnostics vehicle was instrumental
in pin-pointing new maintenance requirements, as
were the results of an inquiry into a broken rail.
Work to fit automatic train protection at around 1 700
signals has been stepped up following a review into
two collisions between regional trains at Grangesprès-Marnand
and Neuhausen (RG 12.13 p22), and
SBB says it is ‘currently considering whether the
planned introduction of continuous speed monitoring’
using ETCS Level 2 ‘can be expedited’. l
to confirm that the tunnel and its
equipment conform to specification
before the completed project is handed
over to Swiss Federal Railways in
mid-2016. The programme covers all
processes, systems and equipment,
including the track, catenary, power
supply, communications and train
control, as well as the various safety
systems. This will help reduce the risk
of any delay to the planned start of
revenue operation in December 2016.
For the test runs, which began in
December 2013 and continue until
June 2015, AlpTransit has leased from
SBB a push-pull inter-city trainset
formed of a driving trailer, three passenger
coaches, a test car and a pair of
Class Re 460 locomotives.
The first runs were limited 40 km/h,
but the speed was subsequently raised
in steps, first to 80 km/h and then
160 km/h from December 16. The
train is currently running at up to
220 km/h. Conventional passenger
trains are expected to operate through
the tunnel at 200 km/h, which is the
usual limit for the Re 460s, but safety
regulations require the line to be
tested at 10% above the regular speed.
Two locomotives are therefore needed
to provide sufficient acceleration in
order to reach 220 km/h within the
13 km available for testing.
The tunnel is designed for operation
at 250 km/h, which will require
testing at up to 275 km/h in due
course. However, it has not yet been
decided what rolling stock would be
used for these tests, which would also
require a longer distance than the
13 km currently available. Trains are
scheduled to begin running through
the whole 57 km tunnel in 2015.
Driver Daniel Egger was in charge
of our train, accompanied in the cab
by Hannes Müller, CEO of Balfour
Beatty Rail Switzerland. ‘It is great to
be part of such an ambitious project’,
said Müller, reflecting on BBR’s role
within the Transtec Gotthard group.
The maximum speed of 220 km/h
was only maintained for about 1 min
during the short run. The ride was
very smooth and quiet, thanks to the
embedded concrete trackform, in
which the rails are supported by booted
concrete blocks rather than transverse
sleepers. Conventional catenary
has been installed in the Gotthard, although
a rigid overhead bar is envisaged
for the Ceneri Base Tunnel. l
26 Railway Gazette International | May 2014