28 June 2022	The on-line newspaper devoted to the world of transports	14:19 GMT+2

June 13, 2022 This page has been automatically translated by Original news The project to expand the Lötschberg Base Tunnel The goal is to increase the ability to rail passenger and freight traffic The Swiss railway company BLS has obtained from the Swiss Confederation approves the expansion project of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel to increase its passenger and freight traffic capacity, with Parliament that next year will have to decide if the tunnel will come expanded to two tubes only partially or entirely. Currently only 14 of the 34.6 kilometers of the tunnel basically they are equipped with a second pipe, which was dug also for another 14 kilometers which, however, are not equipped for rail operations, while on the remaining seven kilometers in the northern part of the work there is only one tube. In 2023, Parliament will decide whether to equip the additional 14 kilometers of the second pipe already excavated or if the entire tunnel will have to be equipped with two pipes. Work on the expansion of the tunnel is expected to begin in 2026. BLS expects partial expansion of the work to cost CHF 973.5 million (EUR 936 million). Index Home Page News - Via Raffaele Paolucci 17r/19r - 16129 Genoa - ITALY phone: +39.010.2462122, fax: +39.010.2516768, e-mail