Opinion divided on new rail route

Two projects – one old, one new – are currently the subject of much debate regarding the development of the train lines heading north from Zug. The planned Zimmerberg base tunnel between Baar and Thalwil is set to cost around a billion francs, and perhaps even half as much again if parallel tracks, as opposed to a set of double tracks, have to be laid down for safety reasons.

 

The Swiss Automobile Club (VCS) had suggested an alternative project a number of years ago which runs along old existing tracks and would be significantly cheaper – CHF 100-120 million for a second Albis tunnel, CHF 80-90 million for a new double-track Zimmerberg tunnel and CHF 20-25 to develop Sihlbrugg station. Another CHF 100-150 million would also be required to construct the approach to Thalwil.

 

Transport planning officer Paul Stopper favours the alternative option, particularly since it would link in with the NEAT

(New Trans-Alpine Railway) project which has already been voted in at a referendum. He is not surprised that the billion-franc Zimmerberg tunnel project has yet to be implemented. "The politicians in Berne had their doubts about the economic viability of the Zimmerberg base tunnel from the beginning," he points out, particularly since freight heading south from Zurich takes a different route, avoiding the current tunnel.

Cantonal government member Matthias Michel is of a different opinion. "The Zimmerberg base tunnel has not been put on the back-burner because it was not economically viable, but because the incredibly high additional costs of the NEAT ate into the budget," he maintains, going on to explain that the Bundesrat looked into the VCS alternative in 2003 and came to the conclusion that it was not a genuine alternative and did not provide any decisive cost savings.

Stopper however is not convinced, and defends the idea of a second one-track tunnel through the Albis and a new double-track Zimmerberg-Scheitel tunnel, which would allow S-Bahn trains to get from Zug to Zurich more quickly and to extend the Sihltalbahn to Baar or even Zug.

 

There is also the debate about whether it is more important to cut down journey times (by implementing more or longer tunnels) or whether it is wrong to save time at the expense of the view. "Railway planning is a complicated affair," explains Michel, "and sometimes compromises have to be made. If it were possible to get from Zug to Zurich in 15 minutes, people would probably be happy to spend most of that time in a tunnel."