On December 15th 2019 the go-ahead was given for the countdown to the opening of the 15.4 km long Ceneri base tunnel. The preview will be between December 12-13, 2020: where the first train will start out northwards at 6:03 a.m. With the commissioning of the Ceneri base tunnel, punctuality and capacity will be increased and the journey between north-south will be improved.

But until then, there are still some challenges to be overcome: the 4-meter corridor must be completed throughout, the numerous ongoing construction sites in Ticino completed, the expansion on the eastern shore of Lake Zug promoted, national and international passenger transport coordinated and the availability of sufficient seats ensured.

The opening of the Ceneri Base Tunnel will be the last phase of the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA), where at the end of August 2019, installation of the railway systems was completed and the preparations for tests began.

SBB and Switzerland aim to use the Railways 2020 Conference on 3rd September  2020 to present -  with the main European railways partners – the post-Ceneri planned improvements. On the same day, a conference of European transport ministers will be held. The tunnel will be officially inaugurated on 04/09/2020. For further information please click here and ch/14 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://company.sbb.ch and https://www.alptransit.ch. 51/19.