Footage from 1965 shows how even back then, drivers plunged into the traffic jam in front of the Gotthard to go on vacation in Ticino. However, the vehicles were not yet as robustly built as they are today.
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- Footage from the SRF Swiss Television archive shows vacation traffic in front of and on the Gotthard in 1965.
- There were already traffic jams on the most important link between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino in the 1960s.
- At that time, the road tunnel through the Gotthard did not yet exist. The alternative to the pass road was the railroad car transport through the tunnel between Göschenen and Airolo.
In the 1960s, Switzerland was in the midst of an economic upswing. After the hardships of war, prosperity was accompanied by a growing need for consumption and enjoyment.
This also included going on vacation. From 1966, a statutory minimum holiday entitlement of two weeks per year was introduced in Switzerland.
Even then, people from the German-speaking part of Switzerland as well as tourists from abroad were drawn to the warm south. Just like today, most of them took the quickest or at least the most direct route: over or through the Gotthard.
However, there was no road tunnel leading into Ticino at that time. If you didn't want to drive over the pass, there was still the option of transporting your car through the railroad tunnel from Göschenen to Airolo.
Hardships for the vacations
Apart from the road tunnel, which was opened in 1980, and the more modern vehicles, the picture during the summer vacations has hardly changed in the last 60 years.
Archive footage from Swiss television SRF shows how cars were already jammed in front of and on the Gotthard in 1965.
Then as now, travelers knew what to expect. The vacation seems to be worth the effort, although the old cars had a lot more trouble with the pass road.
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