On December 13, 2020, the Monte Ceneri Base Tunnel was put into service. This 15.4 km long tunnel is coming to the end of its 15 years of construction. A project that was conceived as a transit axis for goods and passengers, as part of the New Rail Lines through the Alps (NLFA).

The tunnel connects Vigana and Vezia in the canton of Ticino through the St. Ceneri massif. This connection not only completes the full line through the Alps for freight traffic, but also provides high-performance travel between Zurich and Milan and, above all, brings the Ticino cities of Locarno, Bellinzona and Lugano closer together with an efficient railway network.

GESTE had the chance and the honour to be able to work on this beautiful and great project as early as 2008. We would like to thank the members of our teams, Roland Hofstetter, Frédéric Joerger, Andrea Krpo, Jean-Baptiste Darcos, Ruedi Moor, Silvan Gruber, Francesco Ravotti, Tobias Bandi, Federico Eggenschwiler, Lukas Rytz, Robin Lüthi who have contributed - some of them for many years - in the field of safety equipments and RAMS to this project.

We would also like to thank all our partners from AlpTransit Gotthard, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), other engineering offices, but also the companies commissioned to carry out this outstanding project for their teamwork that was equal to the challenge.

2020