Zimmerberg Base Tunnel
The Zimmerberg Base Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the south of Zurich in Switzerland . The overall project, which in the final stage intends to cut through the two mountain ranges Zimmerberg and Albis , was divided into two stages, the first of which was already implemented as part of Bahn 2000 between 1997 and 2002. The second stage is part of AlpTransit Gotthard and complements the Gotthard Base Tunnel as part of the New Railway Alpine Transversal (NEAT) projectin the north through an improved connection to the Zurich hub. In 2019, Parliament decided to include the ZBT II in the STEP expansion step 2030/35.
General information
The 20 km long Zimmerberg base tunnel consists of the northern Zimmerberg base tunnel from Zurich to the Nidelbad area, a branching off connection structure from there to the Thalwil train station (stage 1 or ZBT I), and the southern Zimmerberg base tunnel from Thalwil, which is planned for later to Litti north of Zug (stage 2 or ZBT II). In the Nidelbad area, the main tube has already broken out a little way beyond the junction to Thalwil.
- ZBT I
The 9.4 km long section Zurich – Thalwil, which was completed as part of the 2000 railway and is in operation - actually a flank tunnel - is often referred to simply as the Zimmerberg tunnel, although the single-lane tunnel between Horgen Oberdorf and Sihlbrugg that opened in 1897 had the same name wearing. The travel time of the long-distance trains between Zurich main station and Thalwil will be shortened by two to three minutes thanks to the new tunnel, and thanks to the capacity gains achieved on the existing route, the S-Bahn line 2 was increased every half hour and the new line S24 (Zurich main station - Horgen Oberdorf) will be introduced.
- ZBT II
The start of construction of the ZBT II planned for 2006 was postponed for financial reasons because the Federal Council ordered a fundamental review of all NEAT projects not yet tackled for the period 2007/2008 (template for the future development of the ZEB rail projects ).
Representatives of the neighboring cantons of Zurich and Zug strongly insist on the implementation of the ZBT II and argue that this is indispensable for a functioning regular timetable with a system travel time Zurich - Milan of three hours and optimal connections; In addition, the principle of a continuous flat line (for goods traffic from / to Schaffhausen – Stuttgart ) cannot be implemented without compromise with today's route . The other side refers to the present draft ZEB timetable, according to which the required connections in Zurich and Milan could also be guaranteed without ZBT II (but with the disclosure of one of the two stops in Chiasso and Como ).
If the long-proposed Lucerne underground station were also implemented, the travel time on the route between Lucerne and Zurich could be reduced from 45 minutes today to 35 minutes.
The planning of the ZBT II began as part of the FABI program for financing and expanding the rail infrastructure . In 2019, Parliament decided to include the ZBT II in the STEP expansion step 2030/35 .
Construction of the ZBT I.
Most of the tunnel construction was carried out by mining using tunnel boring machines . The excavation was carried away by train from Zurich Brunau. The structure is designed for 160 km / h and contains two lane change points. The drive in Zurich-Wiedikon was particularly critical , as the tunnel tube only passes a few meters below the house foundations and also passes through groundwater-bearing loose rock.
Events
- On April 11, 2006, an ETR-470 tilting train from Cisalpino AG unexpectedly came to a standstill in the tunnel due to a defect in the traction equipment that led to a smoldering fire. The incident went smoothly and the passengers were able to get to safety using the tunnel emergency exits in Latten and Kilchberg.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Federal Office of Transport FOT: Expansion step 2035
- ↑ Broad lobbying for Lucerne underground station, Zentralschweizer Druck - Lucerne wants to pre-finance preliminary project , NZZ , May 5, 2009
- ↑ Federal Office of Transport FOT: Expansion step 2035
- ↑ Zurich - Zug - Lucerne: Study Zimmerberg - Base Tunnel II. On: SBB.ch
literature
- Martin Bosshard, René Guertner (ed.): The Zimmerberg Base Tunnel. Zurich main station - Thalwil. Basler & Hoffmann, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-033-00226-9