Switzerland’s underground network spans more than 2,000 kilometers and includes over 1,400 tunnels and galleries. It carries trains and vehicles beneath the Alps, while also routing water and electricity, alongside technical services. Built up over more than a century, this infrastructure is helping reshape how goods and people move across Europe. On train journeys, daylight vanishes and passengers see their reflections in the windows as they pass through this hidden network.
Switzerland has spent more than a century carving tunnels through its mountains. Information from ETH Zurich, the country’s subterranean web now includes over 1,400 tunnels and galleries, stretching more than 2,000 kilometers. It carries trains and vehicles, and routes water and electricity through the mountains alongside technical services, forming impressive infrastructure for a nation defined by its rugged terrain. This is a distributed network of transport and utilities, not a single coordinated underground system.
Engineering the Alpine Base Tunnels
The centerpiece of this underground change is the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA, or NEAT), comprising the Lötschberg, Gotthard, and Ceneri base tunnels. Designed to carry passengers and freight on flatter routes beneath the mountains, the corridor forms a basic part of the European rail network. The Gotthard Base Tunnel links Erstfeld in Uri with Bodio in Ticino. Its two single-track tubes are each about 57 kilometers long; the full tunnel measures 57.1 kilometers. Construction began in 1999, breakthrough came in 2010, and the official opening ceremony took place on 1 June 2016. Scheduled passenger and freight services began in December that year, when it became the world’s longest railway tunnel.
The Gotthard’s low-gradient alignment allows freight trains of up to 750 meters and 2,000 tonnes to cross the Alps with less reliance on banking locomotives than older mountain routes require. The project cost approximately CHF 12.2 billion in the Swiss government’s stated price basis. The Ceneri Base Tunnel, around 15.4 kilometers long, entered regular operation in December 2020, completing the principal Gotthard NRLA corridor between northern Switzerland and Ticino. At its September 2020 inauguration in Camorino, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis described it as “the last major construction project of the new rail link through the Alps.”
Speed is only one part of the effort. By improving rail capacity and operating conditions, Switzerland is seeking to shift freight from road to rail and reduce truck traffic’s pressure on the Alpine environment. The tunnels provide the basic low-gradient passage, but the wider corridor also depends on available rail capacity and terminals, with timetables and infrastructure compatible with those in Germany and Italy.
Why Switzerland Is Moving Freight Underground
Environmental protection drives this strategy. Following the 1994 Alpine Initiative vote, Article 84 of the Swiss Federal Constitution established the policy that “transalpine freight traffic shall be transferred from road to rail.” Federal measures include the Alpenschutzgesetz and the heavy-vehicle fee, alongside investment in rail infrastructure and support for combined transport. The annual target is to reduce heavy goods vehicle crossings of the Swiss Alps to 650,000.
To pursue that target, Switzerland has paired major tunnel projects with road charges for heavy vehicles and incentives for combined transport. Federal monitoring recorded approximately 960,000 heavy goods vehicles crossing the Swiss Alpine routes in 2023, well above the objective. In 2025, 960,000 trucks still crossed the Swiss Alps, and rail’s share of Alpine freight slipped from 70.3% to 68.6%, affected by construction, disruptions on European corridors, and economic headwinds. The figures show why infrastructure alone is not enough: road-pricing measures and operating support remain part of the policy mix.
The corridor’s vulnerability became clear in August 2023, when a freight-train derailment inside the Gotthard Base Tunnel damaged track and infrastructure. One tube remained closed for an extended period, and passenger services were diverted to the historic mountain route. The disruption highlighted the need for redundancy and reliable operations alongside new construction. Switzerland’s rail links also form part of the cross-border Rhine-Alpine corridor, whose capacity depends on coordinated infrastructure and services beyond the country’s borders.
Managing the Environmental Impact
Building tunnels on this scale inevitably leaves a mark. The Gotthard Base Tunnel project involved 152 kilometers of tunnels, galleries, ventilation shafts, and safety passages, and the removal of 28.2 million tons of rock. Switzerland sought to minimize local damage. Construction materials were moved by rail or boat whenever possible, while machinery was fitted with particle filters. Crews treated and cooled wastewater before it entered rivers and streams, and enforced dust and noise controls in nearby communities.
These efforts point to a broader lesson for Europe: tunnels are neither simple nor inexpensive solutions. Their contribution to lower-impact mobility depends on sustained investment and strict operating and environmental standards, with effective rail services and adequate cross-border connections. Switzerland’s infrastructure has been financed through long-term federal rail programs, including the FinöV structure and its successors.
Switzerland’s underground network shows how infrastructure and policy can align with environmental priorities. As European transport faces growing pressure to decarbonize and protect natural landscapes, the Swiss approach offers inspiration and a practical blueprint. Its freight-transfer targets and corridor disruptions also show how much depends on reliable operations across the entire rail network.
