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On August 10, 2023, a freight train derailed in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, causing major damage to the roadway. The consequences of the accident are still felt today. This week SBB announced that several more trains will be able to pass through the world’s longest railway tunnel from March. However, normal functioning is not expected to be possible again until September 2024.
Repair work is pushing SBB to its capacity limits. The company is dependent on external support to make the tunnel usable again “as quickly as possible”. Since December, SBB has been employing additional train drivers from its rival BLS and the private company MEV, as can be seen from Simap, the information system on public procurement in Switzerland.
In response to Blick’s question, an SBB spokesperson explained its commitment as follows: “For the repair work on the Gotthard Base Tunnel, additional locomotive personnel are needed to take the construction trains to the construction site.” SBB will now have access to a pool of train drivers who can be additionally deployed at BLS and MEV “depending on needs and internal workload”.
SBB is keeping to itself how much this whole thing costs. But the company doesn’t want to know anything about the general shortage of train drivers. The spokesman assures that it now has a “balanced workforce” after the “education spurts” in recent years.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
