Grafenort – Engelberg Tunnel
Encyclopedia
The Grafenort – Engelberg Tunnel is a railway tunnel built on the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn, part of the Zentralbahn
in Switzerland
.
Historically, the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn had a very steep 25% incline between Grafenort and Engelberg
; replacing this with a more direct tunnel has shortened uphill journey times by 14 minutes, and increased capacity. Thanks to timetable changes, journey times between Engelberg and Zurich
/Bern have been shortened by 19 minutes.
Great care had to be taken with risk assessments and mitigation; some surrounding areas are very vulnerable to floods, landslides, or avalanches. Serious flooding in 2005 not only disrupted tunnel construction, but also trapped 1500 tourists in Engelberg, who had to be airlifted to safety.
Construction of the tunnel posed several severe technical challenges; this also increased the cost, to 176.5 million CHF
. As the tunnel allows the use of longer, faster trains, a new power station has been built to provide additional electrical power.
Zentralbahn
The Zentralbahn is a Swiss railway company that was created on January 1, 2005, with the merger of the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn and the Brünigbahn...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Historically, the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn had a very steep 25% incline between Grafenort and Engelberg
Engelberg
Engelberg is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Engelberg has a population of . , 21.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.It is the leading mountain resort in central Switzerland...
; replacing this with a more direct tunnel has shortened uphill journey times by 14 minutes, and increased capacity. Thanks to timetable changes, journey times between Engelberg and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
/Bern have been shortened by 19 minutes.
Great care had to be taken with risk assessments and mitigation; some surrounding areas are very vulnerable to floods, landslides, or avalanches. Serious flooding in 2005 not only disrupted tunnel construction, but also trapped 1500 tourists in Engelberg, who had to be airlifted to safety.
Construction of the tunnel posed several severe technical challenges; this also increased the cost, to 176.5 million CHF
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...
. As the tunnel allows the use of longer, faster trains, a new power station has been built to provide additional electrical power.