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He was the great absentee at the festivities: former federal councilor Adolf Ogi (78) is considered the “father” of the new railway across the Alps (Neat). However, he could only see the official opening of the Ceneri Base Tunnel on Friday morning from a distance.
Because of the corona virus, it was downloaded by Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga (60), the former Transport Minister told Blick TV. Disappointment shows in him: “Of course I’m a bit sad. But that’s the way it is now. “He doesn’t want to voice any criticism, even if he was the one who started the billion-dollar project:” That took a lot of leadership and a lot of courage. “
Sommaruga’s message: “It is a work of the century”(00:37)
“The tunnel brings Switzerland closer”
There was joy about it in Ticino. Where the festival community held solemn speeches, cut the obligatory ribbon and gave the starting signal for the first official passage of the train through the Ceneri tunnel.
In her speech in the Camorino tent, Federal President Sommaruga spoke about her childhood. The family spent almost all of their holidays in Ticino: “The trip there felt like an eternity,” she recalled. Instead of crossing the mountain, you now go through the mountain. The Ceneri tunnel reinforces public transport – “and it reinforces Ticino,” Sommaruga continued. Close to Switzerland.
Sommaruga also praised the “forward-thinking” decision of the Swiss population, who in 1992 voted for NEAT. Together with Gotthard and Lötschberg, the Ceneri is “the heart of the most important railway corridor between the North Sea and the Mediterranean”.
“Today we are living the realization of a vision,” says Ignazio Cassis (59) moved. Ticino’s foreign minister described tunnel builder Alp Transit Gotthard AG as the “glue” that holds Switzerland together. Thanks to faster connections from mid-December, you can alternate between the Locarno Film Festival and the Lugano Jazz Festival.
Open today: The most important facts about the Ceneri tunnel(02:07)
Travel times are significantly shortened in some cases
With the opening of the 15.4-kilometer-long Ceneri tunnel between Camorino near Bellinzona and Vezia near Lugano, what Switzerland has been waiting for decades will be possible: as of the time change on December 13, travel times between the north and the south they will be reduced in about 20 minutes.
In the future, a trip from Zurich to Lugano will only take just under two hours. From Lucerne to Lugano, travelers will need another 1 hour and 40 minutes. And the train now only takes 3 hours and 17 minutes from Zurich to Milan.
But Ticino in particular should also benefit from the new tunnel. Travel time between Lugano and Locarno is cut in half to 30 minutes. And in the future there will be another 15 minutes between Bellinzona and Lugano.
This is another milestone in Swiss rail traffic. After 28 years, the Neat Century Building has been completed. Access routes to the outside, however, are yet to come.
Travelers through the Ceneri tunnel: In four hours to Milan(01:16)
Most of the guests had to stay home
Originally, the celebration was not intended to be inferior to the ceremony at the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016. However, due to the Corona crisis, the intended 650 guests have to stay home. Only a few dozen will be there.
Federal President and Transport Minister Sommaruga traveled to Ticino on Thursday. At his invitation, delegations from the transport ministries of neighboring countries met in Locarno. Sommaruga described the completion of the Neat as an “epic achievement.”
After the base tunnels of St. Gotthard (56 km) and Lötschberg (34.6 km), the Ceneri tunnel with its 15.4 kilometers is the third longest tunnel in Neat. As with the Gotthard, two single track tubes were built for safety reasons. Total costs: about 22 billion Swiss francs.
