Derailment detectors at the portals of the Gotthard tunnel in operation

Swiss Railways (SBB) is accelerating on the safety front. The Swiss company is announcing the installation of derailment detectors at the portals of the Gotthard base tunnel. The tunnel was the scene of a serious accident in August 2023, when a goods train ran off the tracks and paralysed rail traffic between northern and southern Europe, with serious consequences for the transport of goods. A note from the company explains: 'At around ten points on the section leading to the Gotthard base tunnel, on the night of 10-11 May 2026, SBB put derailment detectors into operation, installed on a particularly sensitive section, namely before the track change at the portals of the Gotthard base tunnel. On this section, in fact, both passenger trains and goods trains run at high speed and, in order to change tracks, they have to travel through so-called high-speed switches'.

These detectors are the only proven infrastructure technology to detect a derailment and, in the event, their goal is to avoid a collision between two trains. However, the detectors are not able to prevent derailments. 'Better maintenance of freight wagons and an adaptation of liability regulations for rail freight traffic are indispensable for this,' the Swiss railways explain.

After the 2023 derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the Swiss Safety Investigation Service determined that the cause was a broken freight wagon wheel. In order to prevent events of this kind, it is therefore crucial to detect wheel cracks in good time. Swiss Railways agrees with the conclusions of the final report of the investigation service and is convinced that the implementation of the measures indicated will further increase the safety of international rail freight traffic.

"The main issue," the note goes on to say, "is the need to drastically improve the maintenance of freight wagons. Today, if an accident occurs due to a wagon defect, the responsibility lies with the railway company in charge of transport and not with the wagon keeper. Wagon keepers therefore have no incentive to invest more than the bare minimum in the relevant safety. Therefore, liability law must be changed. The Swiss railways support the regulations issued by the Federal Office of Transport and are committed to a fair distribution of risks in rail freight transport, itself fundamentally among the safest transport systems.

With the commissioning of the derailment detectors, the temporary speed reduction of 160 km/h at the two track changes at the portals of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which had been in force since the tunnel was put back into service in September 2024, was lifted. The speed reduction did not affect travellers and connections in Ticino and German-speaking Switzerland, but it did reduce travel time reserves aimed, for example, at absorbing delays.