Finishing the half-built Alpine tunnel
SWITZERLAND: BLS has submitted the plan changes for the Lötschberg base tunnel, which the Federal Office of Transport (BAV) has put out to public objection until 15 September.
The 35 km link under the Bernese Alps opened in 2007 with double track on only 14 km. Of the western tube, a further 14 km stand as an empty tunnel and the last 7 km to Frutigen were never built at all.
Finishing the tunnel will cost about CHF 1.7bn (EUR 1.8bn) and run into the mid-2030s.
Full story: Light at the end of Switzerland’s half-built Alpine tunnel
Go deeper:
Half a tunnel. Paid for twice.
Switzerland will spend about CHF 1.7bn to finish a tunnel it chose to leave unfinished in 1996.
Rail’s share of transalpine freight through the country fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2025.
The line’s operator, BLS, lost money on freight in the same year.
Full story: Switzerland pays twice for the Lötschberg
Promised in 2023: Poland reaches 250 km/h
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP PLK) tested the new GSM-R radio system on the Centralna Magistrala Kolejowa overnight on 18 August, with a PKP Intercity Pendolino running at 250 km/h.
The rollout was the last prerequisite for European Train Control System (ETCS) level 2 on the line. The target is 250 km/h running on around 180 km of the line, which today is capped at 200 km/h in service.
Deputy infrastructure minister Piotr Malepszak has put the start of commercial operation in the second half of 2027. Warsaw–Kraków would then take under two hours, about 25 minutes less than today.
Full story: Radio test clears way for 250 km/h on Warsaw–Kraków line
12 Alstom trains race Bulgaria’s EU deadline
BULGARIA: Twelve of the 35 Alstom Coradia Stream sets ordered by the Bulgarian transport ministry are financed by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), whose milestones and targets must be met by 31 August 2026.
The remaining 23 sets sit under Bulgaria’s social climate plan and are not tied to that date.
Full story: Bulgaria must approve 12 Alstom trains by 31 August to keep EU funds
Finance chief takes over as CargoBeamer cuts board to three
GERMANY: CargoBeamer has reduced its management board from five to three members and appointed Markus Fischer as chief executive.
He has been the Leipzig-based company’s chief financial officer since 2016 and succeeds Nicolas Albrecht, who moves to the supervisory board as its new chairman.
Fribourg operator buys 13 Stadler trains via SBB contract
SWITZERLAND: Transports publics fribourgeois (TPF) has placed a firm order with Stadler for 13 four-car Flirt Evo electric multiple units worth CHF 117m (about EUR 125m).
The trains are called off from the framework contract for up to 510 regional EMUs that SBB awarded Stadler in 2022, under which TPF can order without running a tender of its own.
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