Vereina: higher fares to fund tunnel upgrade works

The Vereina railway tunnel, which links Klosters and Zernez in the canton of Graubünden, is preparing for a major modernisation project after twenty-seven years of operation. The tunnel, which allows trains, cars and heavy vehicles to travel quickly between the Engadine and the Prättigau, needs to be adapted to meet steadily growing traffic demand and increasingly strict safety requirements.

To help finance part of the works, car transport fares will rise by 2 francs, to an amount between 36 and 41 francs. The increase, however, will not be enough to cover the entire investment, estimated at around 70 million francs: part of the cost will therefore have to come from other sources of funding. Work is expected to start by 2029 and will be carried out at night, so as not to disrupt private traffic or passenger trains.

A tunnel at capacity

The project includes renewing the rolling stock and upgrading facilities and locomotives, explains Gilbert Zimmermann, head of the northern region at Rhaetian Railway. Any future increase in capacity would also require widening some sections of the tunnel.

Since it opened, traffic through the Vereina has almost doubled. According to Simon Rohner, head of vehicle transport at Rhaetian Railway, this growth was not foreseen when the tunnel was planned: "Se prima della costruzione si fosse saputo quanto traffico avremmo oggi, forse si sarebbe pianificato tutto in modo diverso" (had we known before construction how much traffic we would have today, everything might have been planned differently). Rohner does not rule out the construction of a second tube, but says it is unlikely to happen for at least one or two generations.

The growing number of vehicles causes queues at the tunnel portals, especially in winter. Rohner puts the issue in perspective: in most cases the wait is no more than 30 minutes, and traffic jams are limited to around 10 to 12 days a year. The tunnel, he notes, is nonetheless at capacity for both passenger trains and car transport.

It remains to be seen how the part of the investment not covered by the fare increase will be financed, and who will bear the cost of a possible second tube in the future — a project that Rhaetian Railway officials consider possible but not imminent.