Alptransit Portal

The four-metre corridor

31 May 2014
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A collision-free journey
A collision-free journey

The NRLA lines are built to match the scales of international goods traffic. Stations, bridges and tunnels must all be adapted to the larger structure gauge. Plan for the Paradiso Tunnel near Lugano. (2013, Federal Office of Transport)

The law on the construction and financing of the four-metre corridor on the Gotthard axis comes into force on 1 June 2014. It reinforces the transfer of goods traffic through the Alps from road to rail - the objective of the NRLA. To allow semi-trailers measuring four metres in height and 2.6 metres in breadth to travel by rail between Basel and Chiasso/Luino, the tunnels need to be expanded, but numerous approach routes, bridges and platform roofs also have to be adapted to the necessary structure gauge.

« As shown in 1.1.2, semi-trailers with a corner height of 4.00 m will be used increasingly in unaccompanied combined transport because they offer clear logistical and economic advantages for shipping agents and haulage operators. »

Federal Council dispatch, p. 3,844, 22.05.2013

Federal Council dispatch on the construction and funding of a 4-metre corridor on the approach routes to the NRLA at the Gotthard

2013 , Federal Chancellery
PDF, 888 KB

Federal Council decree on the overall loan for the construction and funding of a 4-metre corridor on the approach routes to the NRLA

2013 , Federal Chancellery
PDF, 107 KB
Structure gauge example from the Paradiso tunnel

Structure gauge example from the Paradiso tunnel, 2013 (Federal Office of Transport)
40.1 m tonnes

of goods crossing the Alps in 2010

990 m Swiss francs

of credit approved by parliament for the necessary enlargement of structure gauges

17.1 m tonnes

of this moved via combined transport, including containers, swap bodies and semi-trailers

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