In 1947, engineer Eduard Gruner publishes his vision for a railway in the journal «Prisma»: a Gotthard tunnel to connect Amsteg with Biasca by the year 2000. It will cut the journey time from Basel to Chiasso to just two hours, settle the «rivalry between rail and road in favour of rail», and render air travel in central Europe unnecessary. A lift will ferry passengers up an 830-metre shaft from a rail station in the tunnel to the elegant sports resort of Sedrun. The fast rail line's flagship train is the «Europe-Africa Express», offering a dining car, «shower rooms, a hairdresser's, kiosk, bar and telephone». The first business study into the Gotthard Base Tunnel is conducted just two years after Gruner's publication.

« The Express travels from Basel to Chiasso in two hours. »

Eduard Gruner, Prisma journal, 01.08.1947