Gotthard Base Tunnel - Choice of the tunnel system from today's point of view

The historic rail tunnels in the Alps were consistently built in the form of single-tube twin-track tunnels, starting with the Mont Cenis Tunnel (1871). Only the 19.8 km long Simplon Tunnel at the start of the 20th century was built with two separate single-track tunnels. In 1988, the 53.8 km long Seikan Tunnel became the first tunnel more than 50 km long to go into operation - once more as a twin-track tunnel, although with additional constructional elements such as forced ventilation, emergency stations and a service tunnel. In 1994 followed the Channel Tunnel with a system of two single-track tunnels and a service or safety tunnel as well as a complex ventilation system. For the base tunnels through the Alps, the question arose in Switzerland at the start of the 1990s, what is the optimal tunnel system considering the requirements of construction, safety and operation? A cost-benefit analysis resulted in a system with two single-track tunnels and multi-function stations at the third points as the optimum. Meanwhile, various requirements have been newly formulated so that the question arises whether the same decision would be made with the knowledge available today. © 2016 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin.