Cargo Sous Terrain

Cargo sous terrain

Basic information
Web presence	http://www.cargosousterrain.ch/
legal form	Corporation
Seat	Basel
Board	Peter Sutterlüti, Chairman of the Board of Directors Stephanie Stettler, VR - Vice President
Length of line network
Railway lines	66.7 km (planned, first stage from Härkingen / Niederbipp to Zurich)dep1

Cargo Sous Terrain (CST, French for “cargo underground” ) is a stock corporation based in Basel. Its aim is to build an underground tunnel system in Switzerland. The aim of the project is to bring as much freight traffic as possible underground. CST sees itself as an overall logistics system that enables goods to be transported from source to sink. It should be able to hold pallets and other containers and be suitable for the supply of fresh produce and goods as well as for the disposal of waste and recycling. In the cities, Cargo sous terrain would like to offer city logistics solutions to ensure the supply of inner cities with goods thanks to modern means of transport with fewer emissions. This can be achieved with Cargo sous terrain, as the different types of goods are collected at the hubs and the routes into the city centers can be planned and guided more efficiently. The use of renewable energies is also planned for the operation of Cargo sous terrain.

The overall logistics system from CST comprises three components:

a tunnel system between metropolitan areas and logistics centers
efficient urban distribution (city logistics)
a seamlessly integrated IT solution for fully automated operation

All financing is to come from the private sector. The planning and development of the system is done in close coordination with the future users. Relevant industry representatives are involved in the stock corporation and are actively working on the solution concept. The main shareholders of the AG include the Post , Swisscom and SBB Cargo , the retailers Coop and Migros as well as the Bern energy group BKW and the insurer Mobiliar . In addition, Hyperloop One and SAP are represented on the Board of Directors.

The Swiss Federal Council signaled in November 2016 that it is willing to create the legal basis for construction under certain conditions. In January 2018, the initiators announced that the private investment commitments of CHF 100 million required by the Federal Council had been achieved.

From September 2013 to March 2017, Cargo sous terrain was organized as a development association. In March 2017, the development association was converted into a stock corporation.Template: future / in 5 years

Project concept

Planned overall network of CST

tunnel

The goods are to be transported underground to a depth of 20 to 40 m. The tunnel should have a diameter of about 6 m. It has 3 lanes, with one lane for each direction of travel and a central service lane for maintenance, evasion in blocked vehicles and buffering / temporary storage of goods and vehicles. In the tunnel, the large goods will travel in vehicles at 30 km / h. These vehicles have wheels and will have an electric drive with an induction rail. In addition, a three-lane overhead conveyor is provided on the ceiling, with which smaller goods can be transported at 60 km / h. All transportation should be completely unmanned.

Hubs

The so-called hubs are intended to feed goods into the system by lift or to remove them from the system. This should be able to run continuously so that the operation in the tunnel is not interrupted or disrupted.

CST collects the goods directly from the users or delivers them to the users. This should allow different deliveries and deliveries to be linked directly. Environmentally friendly and later also unmanned vehicles are to be used for deliveries to the hubs. It is possible for users to deliver their goods directly to the hubs.

City logistics

For delivery to the destination, Cargo sous terrain is setting up a city logistics system with environmentally friendly vehicles, which should make it possible to significantly reduce emissions in the metropolitan areas. The journeys for the delivery of goods in cities could be reduced by 30%. The system is intended to enable coordinated delivery and pick-up tours, as goods can already be bundled and transported to the city hubs on the outskirts and can be brought into the delivery sequence in the tunnel.

First stage

The first tunnel is to connect Härkingen-Niederbipp and Zurich by 2030. Ten main hubs and several direct connections are planned for the 66.7 km long section. The first stage is expected to cost around CHF 3.55 billion. 71% of this will go into the construction of the tunnel.

Further sections of the route

Further sections of the route are to be built successively and will eventually extend from Geneva to St. Gallen and from Basel to Lucerne , with an additional branch from Bern to Thun .

politics

Federal Council

In November 2016, the Swiss Federal Council was open to creating the legal basis required for the construction. However, he made the following conditions: The development association must be converted into a stock corporation. CST met this requirement and formed a public company on March 24, 2017. Another condition of the federal government is that 100 million Swiss francs must be pledged by private investors for the first project phase; at least half of them from within Germany. The future operators have to make binding commitments. In addition, the cantons of Zurich, Aargau and Solothurn affected by the first section must agree. In addition, future customers must be guaranteed non-discriminatory access.

Cantons

The governments of the two directly affected cantons, Aargau and Solothurn, are skeptical of the project, as they are not yet fully convinced of the benefits of the underground freight tunnel. In addition, the functionality of the hubs is still unclear.

Investors

In September 2017, Cargo Sous Terrain AG presented the first investors for the building permit phase for the first section from Härkingen-Niederbipp to Zurich. From the insurance industry, Schweizerische Mobiliar and Helvetia Insurance are investing , with Migros and Coop, the two largest Swiss retailers (retailers). The investments promised by the investors total CHF 22.5 million.

In January 2018, the initiators were able to announce that the investment commitments of 100 million francs required by the Federal Council, half of which came from Switzerland, had been achieved. Credit Suisse , the mechatronics company Gotthard 3 and the European infrastructure developer Meridiam have recently joined Cargo sous terrain AG . From 2020 a Chinese company will also participate in the innovative project: Dagong Holding, which invests in technologies and infrastructures. Now the federal government has to create the legal framework for the project.