The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) has granted approval for a corridor for semi-trailer traffic via France. As part of the works, the rail corridor between Basel and the French border will be adapted to facilitate 4-metre high trains.
The upgrades will allow for freight trains with semi-trailers of four metres tall to travel via France to the Gotthard and Lötschberg base tunnels of the NRLA (New Rail Link through the Alps) – a Swiss construction project for faster north–south rail links across the mountains. In total, the work costs around 114 million Swiss francs (around 122 million euros).
Modifications to the infrastructure are needed between the Basel St. Johann and Basel SBB stations. Those include lowering the tracks in two tunnels and two road overpasses. Infrastructure manager SBB will also carry out some routine work in the process, which will start in April 2026 and last until late 2029. As a result of the improvements, more transalpine freight traffic should shift from road to rail, according to FOT.
In order to facilitate rail freight across the entire left bank of the Rhine to the NRLA, France also needs to make some investments. FOT explains that both parties have signed declarations of intent to that end, and the expansion projects are currently in development.