© Hupac SA
European goods transport involves increasing numbers of articulated lorries with semi-trailers of four-metre corner height. Before 2020, semi-trailers with a four-metre corner height could only be transported via the Lötschberg route. After adapting the Bözberg tunnel and other older tunnels, as well as platform roofs, signalling and traction current systems, they can also be transported on the Gotthard route since 2020.
So that the four-metre corridor can achieve its full impact, it must also be possible to transport the semi-trailers by rail beyond the Swiss frontier, as far as the terminals to the east and west of Milan. That is why Switzerland invested CHF 120 million to upgrade the Luino line to a 4-metre corridor. Switzerland is also investing an additional CHF 148 million in Italy by 2028 so that trains with 4-metre loads can run on the line south of the Simplon.
A total credit of CHF 990 million is available for expansion of the Gotthard route and the Luino and Simplon lines into 4-metre corridors. Thanks to these investments, the modal shift effect of the NRLA will be significantly increased.
Italy paid for the 4-metre upgrades on the line between Chiasso and Milan itself.
