Gotthard Base Tunnel Derailment: everything you need to know for your trip

• If you are a GA Travelcard customer and decide not to use your GA Travelcard due to a longer journey, you can deposit it for 30 days or obtain a refund at the current conditions. To do this, visit an SBB Travel Centre or call the SBB Contact Center.
• The Night GA Travelcard and seven25 annual Travelcard are valid for customers with their place of residence in Ticino as early as 6pm for journeys to or from Ticino every day. This applies until the Gotthard Base Tunnel can once again return to normal use.
• SBB understands that some may feel that prices should be reduced due to the travel situation in Ticino. However, general price reductions due to the longer journey time are not envisaged by the sector.

The online timetable is updated. Please check the online timetable shortly before departure to avoid missing any changes.

If you have any questions, please contact an SBB Travel Centre or the SBB Contact Center.

• Between Friday evening and Sunday evening, 38 trains travel through the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
• Since 25 March 2024, an early-morning train has been running from Ticino to German-speaking Switzerland from Mondays to Fridays (dep. in Chiasso at 05:30, with stops in Mendrisio, Lugano, Bellinzona, Altdorf, Arth-Goldau, Lucerne, Olten, arr. in Basel at 08:56). In Arth-Goldau, there is a connection to Zug and Zurich.
• The journey takes one hour less than via the Gotthard panorama route. For these trains, the journey time between Ticino and German-speaking Switzerland is therefore the same as the journey time before the derailment.
• The exact connections can be found in the online timetable. You can find the route, i.e. whether via the Gotthard panorama route or the Gotthard Base Tunnel, in the SBB Mobile app and online by clicking on the connection in the journey information. 

• Due to the restricted profile, only a few freight trains can operate via the Gotthard panorama route. As a result, from Monday to Thursday, all train paths through the Gotthard Base Tunnel are available to freight traffic. From Friday to Sunday evening, a combination of freight and passenger trains travel through the tunnel. This ensures the necessary capacities for both transit and domestic transport. 
• Due to the limited capacity, SBB has focused on those trains for which there is the greatest demand.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel is not expected to be fully operational again for passenger traffic until September 2024.

Seven kilometres of the track must be completely replaced. On this route, two seven-kilometre sections of rails need to be replaced, as well as over 20,000 sleeper blocks and the layer of concrete in which they are cast. The repair work is being carried out at maximum speed across three shifts.

National connection

On the following national routes via the Gotthard panorama route, you should expect a longer journey time, extended by one hour:

• Zurich–Chiasso
• Zurich–Lugano
• Basel–Chiasso
• Basel–Lugano

International connections

The journey time for international connections between Switzerland and Italy is mostly one hour longer. However, for the most part, you can travel directly to your destination without changing trains in Chiasso. Please note that trains from Zurich, Zug and Arth-Goldau depart one hour earlier. Check the online timetable for full details.

In General

Your EuroCity reservation is train-specific. This means that the train number on your ticket must match the train number of the train actually used.

Zurich

Despite the connections largely being direct:

• The EC 326 service (Genoa–Zurich) is cancelled.
• The EC 327 service (Zurich–Genoa/Sestri Levante) is running from Zurich to Milano Centrale on an exceptional basis and is cancelled between Milano Centrale and Genoa/Sestri Levante. The Milano Lambrate and Milano Rogoredo stations are not served.
• The EC 307 service (Zurich–Bologna) is cancelled.
• The EC 308 service (Bologna–Zurich) is running from Milano Centrale to Zurich on an exceptional basis and is cancelled between Bologna and Milan. The Milano Lambrate and Milano Rogoredo stations are not served.
• The EC 314 service (Milano - Zürich) is canncelled between Milano and Lugano.

Basel

EuroCity trains from Basel travelling to Italy via Lucerne are currently only running between Basel and Lugano and are cancelled between Lugano and Milan. These trains will instead run as IC21 services within Switzerland.

Milan–Zurich–Frankfurt

The trinational EC 150 / 151 Milan‒Zurich‒Frankfurt and Frankfurt‒Zurich‒Milan is no longer running end-to-end and the EC 151 is cancelled between Arth-Goldau and Milan. Since SBB’s Giruno trains are being used for services via the panorama route, SBB’s ETR610 trains are running between Frankfurt and Zurich until further notice, instead of the Giruno trains intended for this route.

All information on the individual connections will be continually available in the online timetable.

You can have your ticket exchanged for a later connection at an SBB Travel Centre or via the SBB Contact Center. If a seat is available, you will also receive a reservation. For detailed information on any compensation or refunds, please visit the SBB Help & Contact page «Compensation for delays».

What do I do if I miss my connecting train in Milan, or Italy?

If you miss your connection in Italy due to the longer travel time of the EuroCity train, the «Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC)» in international rail passenger traffic applies in most cases.

For example, if you have a connection with a Freccia train, Trenitalia will rebook you on the next Freccia train, provided seats are available. To do so, go to one of the many Trenitalia «Assistenza Desks» in the middle of the arrivals hall at Milano Centrale station. Please note that you will only be able to board another Freccia or Intercity train if you have made a reservation at the Trenitalia ticket office in advance. The same generally applies for connections from other stations.

Please note that free rebooking is only possible if the provider of your connecting train is part of the AJC. The following are some of the providers that are not part of the AJC network:

• Trenord is not part of the AJC: If you miss your connection on a Trenord regional train, you can use the original ticket on an alternative Trenord connection as per the printed validity. If the new travel connection falls outside the period of validity originally printed on the ticket, you must purchase a new ticket. You can do this, for example, on the Trenord website «Bigletti ferrovaiari: bigletti digitali e cartacei, como usarli» or on SBB.ch. For any refund claims, please contact an SBB Travel Centre in Switzerland or the SBB Contact Center.
• Italo is not part of the AJC: Please contact Italo at one of their «Assistenza Desks» in the middle of the arrivals hall in Milan station for any questions on rebooking or refunds. Unfortunately, SBB cannot refund Italo tickets.