News analysis Will rail take the strain when What will happen to transalpine traffic when the Gotthard road tunnel closes for maintenance work? Can rail take the strain from the roads on this vital axis, and if so, how? Regional editor Anitra Green takes a look at the possibilities and the wider implications. VEN if the Swiss say yes E to the construction of a second SFr 3bn ($US 3.1bn) Gotthard road tunnel when they go to the polls next year, it is widely assumed that it cannot possibly be ready for operation before the existing tunnel closes for essential maintenance work, which ideally will happen between 2018 and 2020. Studies have been completed and plans are already being drawn up for rail transport to carry the vast amount of traffic that uses this route. The Gotthard Base Tunnel is due to open in 2016 and the existing mountain route will be retained Airolo, while lorries, buses to the Lötschberg route or Kandersteg and Goppenstein. for regional and tourist services, and other large vehicles would setting up a longer rolling road BLS has already made it clear as well as for other freight and travel on a rolling road service service (eg Basle - Lugano/ that it is prepared to offer its passenger traffic if required. through the base tunnel Chiasso) would not cover expertise and resources on the According to a study by between Rynächt/Altdorf and regional needs. Gotthard route, and the shuttle the Swiss Federal Office of Biasca. This is the only variant Precedents exist for both trains that will have to be Transport (FOT), the best that meets all requirements: types of service. BLS, acquired could be used by BLS option would be to divide the the mountain route could not Switzerland’s second largest afterwards on the Lötschberg. traffic. A car shuttle would take all the traffic - there is railway company runs an As for lorries, intermodal operate through the existing no land available to construct efficient and successful car operator RAlpin runs equally railway tunnel on the mountain loading terminals in the Alpine shuttle operation year-round efficient and successful rolling route between Göschenen and valleys - and diverting traffic on the Lötschberg between road services between 20 IRJ May 2015 Gotthard road tunnel closes? only work successfully if the voters decide in favour of a varying degrees of success, turnaround time and frequency second road tunnel or not, will and all have their advantages is regular and efficient enough road haulage firms immediately and disadvantages. to avoid unacceptably long shift back to pure road CargoBeamer, developed in queues. In this context it is transport when the maintenance Germany, is perhaps the most worth looking at Innovatrain, work is finished or will they versatile: the semitrailer is a competence centre for become intermodal? In other driven on to a cradle which developing intermodal words, will the new facilities can then be lifted normally, systems for time-critical goods still have a job to do? or moved horizontally onto over short distances. To a certain extent, this a wagon, in which case Innovatrain focuses depends on whether the specially-equipped terminals especially on heavily Alpine initiative of 1994 to are needed. With Nikrasa populated areas, where space halve the number of lorries (Germany), the semi-trailer is for transshipment and interim passing through Gotthard road also driven onto a cradle storage is scant and local rail tunnel to 650,000 units a year which can be lifted, but this facilities are limited. The system can be achieved. Traffic has needs a portable ramp. relies on precise planning, averaged around 1.25 million Modalohr (France) needs careful siting of hubs, good units a year since 2000, but it special terminals and wagons, timing, the right rolling stock is difficult to see how further while Megaswing (Sweden) and a system for horizontal reduction can be achieved in also needs special wagons: transhipment of 20-foot the face of projected growth both are purely horizontal containers and standard swap- rates on the north-south trade systems with a swivelling bodies called ContainerMover routes, and there is already a section which enables the 3000. Retailers, the postal service move to readjust the target to semitrailer to be driven and major manufacturers such a higher, more realistic level. directly onto the wagon. as Coca-Cola, Nestle, are all Nonetheless, there is an The question of who is the turning to intermodal opportunity here, which first to commit to using one operations in Switzerland in innovators in the intermodal of these systems on the the face of chronic congestion field have already scented. Gotthard route has already on major roads. Innovatrain’s Most road freight travels in been answered. Last month expertise could also be utilised semitrailers, the vast majority BLS Cargo launched a new in the organisation of the new of which cannot be lifted by Cologne - Melzo (Italy) service services. gantry crane or reachstacker. with CargoBeamer for semi- Photo: David Gubler Around 3.5% of semitrailers trailers with a corner height Freiburg-im-Breisgau, have been modified to be of 4m. This represents a Germany, and Novara near Wider view cranable and can be handled breakthrough in every respect, Milan via the Lötschberg and No firm decisions have been in all intermodal terminals. For and it will be interesting to see to Lugano via the Gotthard. reached on precisely when the rest, the only intermodal how long it takes for others to RAlpin’s expertise could also these new services will have transport possibilities are the follow suit, what system they help in setting up a similar, to be in operation, or exactly rolling road, which is inherently will choose, and how quickly much shorter, service on the what form they will take. uneconomic and has to be road hauliers respond. Gotthard, possibly with two or But this situation has wider subsidised, or to use one of the In the meantime, the even three loading points on implications, which existing new transshipment techniques priority is to establish a basic each train to speed up and potential players on the developed in the last few years. concept for rail operation turnaround times at terminals. Gotthard route are already All of these have been tried during the closure of the road However, both services will looking at. Whether the Swiss out in commercial service with tunnel. IRJ IRJ May 2015 21.