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- The Vereina tunnel
- Rhaetian Railway Network
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Except for minor modifications of existing lines, no really new line was built on the RhB network since 1913 for more than 80 years.
This was changed when the Vereina tunnel was opened on November 19, 1999; the Vereina line added 22 kilometres of new track to the RhB network.
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Great events were foreshadowed: In the summer of 1999, mail sent by the RhB carried this special cancellation which pointed out November 19, 1999 (written in the European notation 19-11-1999), the date when the Vereina tunnel was opened.
What is so important about this tunnel? Look at the map:
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Red: existing lines; blue: Vereina tunnel |
Formerly, the north-east part of the RhB network, the Engadin line, could only be reached by going via Klosters – Filisur – Samedan. This was an enormous detour for the whole traffic headed for the Engadin. Alternatively, you could go over the Flüela pass by car; this, however, was not always easy as the Flüela may be in snow already in late summer.
The people of Graubünden were asked to decide whether the Flüela should be kept free of snow and ice all year long or whether a tunnel should be built between Klosters and Susch/Lavin to take care of the Engadin-bound traffic.
The Graubünden people voted for the tunnel on September 22, 1985. The Swiss Federal government agreed to pay their share of the total project cost of SFr. (Swiss Franken) 567,000,000 (based on 1985 plans) in December 1985; probably, the then Minister of Transport, Leon Schlumpf, who was born in Graubünden and who had a strong interest in this project, had influenced this decision.
Construction should have begun on September 1, 1987. Due to problems in the official approval procedure, however, it was April 18, 1991, when work on the tunnel finally began.
At the southern end, in the Lower Engadin, work on the Vereina tunnel and the car loading installation at Sagliains between Susch and Lavin was started right away. From this side, the tunnel was built by conventional rock blasting techniques.
At the northern end, near Klosters, more additional work was required before work on the Vereina tunnel could begin: A new two-track bridge across the river Landquart had to be built which gave the engineers a hard nut to crack: The slope on the left side of the river is moving towards the river bed at a speed of 1 centimeter per year. Therefore, the bridgehead on the other side was fitted with special roller bearings which guarantee operation of the bridge for the next eighty years.
As railway operations could not be suspended during the construction of the bridge, the whole 76.5 meter bridge was built about 10 meters away from the place where it really belonged. When the bridge had been completed, it was moved to its final position within 24 hours.
Furthermore, at the northern end near Klosters, the 2.172 km Zugwaldtunnel had to be built first to gain access to the planned northern Vereina end. In the construction chamber of the Zugwaldtunnel, the more than 200 meter long tunnel drill was assembled which did the northern cut of the Vereina tunnel after completion of the Zugwaldtunnel.
The Zugwaldtunnel was finished in October 1995 so that work on the Vereina tunnel could be started from the northern end then. On March 26, 1997, the two groups coming from both ends made the final cut and met in the tunnel (pictures of this event are found on a separate page).
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| This plan – photographed in the Landquart main depot on October 15, 1998 – shows the monthly progress of the tunnel construction at the northern end between March and August 1996. |
Building of the Vereina tunnel resulted in more than 2 million cubic meters of spoil. More than half of this material was used for banks at other places, more than a quarter could be re-used, and less than 20% were deposited at two special sites near Untervaz in the north and near Zernez in the south. Naturally, this material was transported by the RhB in trains known as the “Excavated Spoil Trains” (“Vereina-Aushubzüge”).
The Vereina tunnel is 19,050 meters long which makes it one of the longest railway tunnels and the longest meter gauge tunnel in the world. A ride through the tunnel takes 19 minutes; a crossing in the middle of the tunnel allows for two trains per hour in each direction (originally, three had been planned). The car terminals Selfranga (north) and Sagliains (south) were placed away from any settlement to reduce emissions. Trains are pulled by the powerful Ge 4/4 III locomotives.
The Vereina tunnel was opened on November 19, 1999, even earlier than originally planned. It reduces the distance between Chur and Scuol by 149 km and the travel time by one hour and forty minutes, i.e., effectively reduces it by 50%.
Nevertheless, this “millennium construction” is also criticized by some: Closing of the Flüela Pass between early November and early May is not generally considered a good idea; the same applies to the fare of SFr. (Swiss Franken) 40.– for a car transport during the winter season – back in 1986, SFr. 15.– had been discussed.
Everybody realizes that the tunnel will never pay off – the Federal funds had been granted “à fonds perdu,” i.e., a “return on investment” is not expected. It is up to the RhB to make sure that the tunnel is operated cost-effectively. The RhB has developed some promising concepts to improve its service in public transport (according to its role as Graubünden State Railway) as well as in touristic railway traffic; these plans allow an optimistic outlook on the Vereina tunnel's as well as the RhB's future.
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Copyright © 1997–2008 and responsible for contents: Christoph Ozdoba.
First version January 1, 1997, last edited February 17, 2008.
