ABSTRACT

The transalpine rail routes through Switzerland are more than one hundred years old. Because they no longer meet the requirements of ever-increasing rail traffic between north and south, they are now being rebuilt. The present Gotthard rail route is in fact a mountain railway: the northern and southern access ramps – with a maximum speed of 80 km/h and a maximum gradient of up to 2.2% – climbs up to about 1,100 m a.s.l. where the old Gotthard rail tunnel is located (approximately 900 m higher than the city of Milan).