Work begins

3 October 1993
The call of the mountains
The call of the mountains

Officially, construction of the NRLA begins in 1999. But initial work and boring takes place at the Gotthard and Lötschberg as early as 1993. (2008, Alptransit Gotthard Ltd)

Work on the NRLA begins at the Gotthard on 4 October 1993, with the groundbreaking ceremony for the Piora exploratory boring system. Construction of the Kandersteg exploratory tunnel begins at the Lötschberg in spring 1994. Geological surveys are carried out at both locations to identify the most favourable route for the line. The construction projects are drawn up on the basis of this data, along with rail technology and political requirements.

« The reliability of the geological and geotechnical forecast based on an exploratory bore is restricted by the bore itself. »

T. R. Schneider, Geological and geotechnical project groundwork from the exploratory Piora Basin bore, p. 15, 31.08.1991
153.5 kilometres

of tunnels and bores in total cut into the Gotthard

91.8 kilometres

of tunnels and bores in total cut into the Lötschberg

830'000 truckloads

of material excavated to build the Lötschberg Base Tunnel

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