Gotthard tunnel: court rejects safety measures for freight trains

The Federal Administrative Court (TAF) has struck down the safety measures adopted by the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) following the 2023 accident in the Gotthard base tunnel, the main freight route between northern Europe and Ticino. The rulings, published on Friday, uphold appeals filed by several European companies active in rail freight transport.

The contested provisions had been issued by the FOT in autumn 2025, in response to the derailment of a freight train on 10 August 2023 in the base tunnel. The accident, caused by a broken wheel, caused damage estimated at around 150 million francs and led to the closure of one of the tunnel's two bores for over a year.

Among the annulled measures were a requirement for a minimum wheel diameter of 864 millimetres for certain wheel types, and periodic technical inspections of freight wagons once they reached certain mileages. The FOT considered these necessary measures to reduce the risk of further accidents. The appellant companies, including freight wagon owners and specialised rail maintenance firms, argued instead that the measures were disproportionate, costly and not sufficiently justified on technical grounds.

A matter of procedure

The TAF upheld the appeals mainly on formal grounds. According to the judges, the FOT's measures conflicted with European technical specifications on rail interoperability, which are also binding on Switzerland. National exemptions are permitted, for instance as an urgent measure following an accident, but they must be notified to the European Union under an international treaty and the law. The FOT failed to make this notification, rendering the ordinance unlawful.

The case now returns to the Federal Office of Transport, which must assess whether and in what form national requirements for freight wagons can be introduced while respecting international obligations and applicable European rail standards.

The TAF's decision may, however, already have been overtaken by events. Just a week earlier, European authorities and industry companies had announced tighter controls on freight trains, in line with the standards sought by Switzerland. FOT director Christa Hostettler had explained that Bern would align with the decisions of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), and recommended that the industry implement them immediately without waiting for the 2028 deadline.