San Gotthard Tunnel, Bodio and Faido lots

The Gotthard Tunnel is an integral part of a larger project, AlpTransit, which aims to modernise the main railway axes through the Alps as part of the European high-speed network, making them more efficient and adapted to modern needs.

The Bodio and Faido lots are the two southernmost sections of the Gotthard tunnel, linking Bodio in the canton of Ticino with Erstfeld in the canton of Uri, on the railway line between Milan and Zurich.
While an innovative technique was used to excavate the Bodio tunnel, using two open tunnel boring machines to speed up the work, the traditional method was used for the multifunctional Faido station. This station housed installations and workshops during the construction phase, and now houses the technical rooms and serves as a railway exchange point, emergency and escape route.

The new tunnel replaces an approximately 15-kilometre-long railway tunnel built at the end of the 19th century. This modernisation was necessary to adapt the old infrastructure to modern requirements and to improve the efficiency and safety of rail transport across the Alps.