Slow expansion in the south and north Ticino and Lombardy call for completion of the transalpine link
With the completion of the 15.5-kilometre-long Ceneri Base Tunnel, the heart of the NRLA was completed in 2020. The expansion of the access routes in the north and south is still lagging behind. (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
Giacomo Zamperini, President of a Lombardy commission for relations with Switzerland, Michele Guerra, President of the Ticino Grand Council and Federico Romani, President of the Lombardy Regional Council (from left to right) are calling for the access routes of the rail axis to be expanded quickly.
Image: Keystone
With the completion of the 15.5-kilometre-long Ceneri Base Tunnel, the heart of the NRLA was completed in 2020. The expansion of the access routes in the north and south is still lagging behind. (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
Giacomo Zamperini, President of a Lombardy commission for relations with Switzerland, Michele Guerra, President of the Ticino Grand Council and Federico Romani, President of the Lombardy Regional Council (from left to right) are calling for the access routes of the rail axis to be expanded quickly.
Image: Keystone
In a resolution, the Lombardy Regional Council and the Ticino Grand Council are calling on Rome and Brussels to support the completion of the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA). Access routes are still being built in the north and south of Switzerland.
10.03.2025, 20:33
10.03.2025, 20:34
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- The Regional Council of Lombardy and the Ticino Grand Council are calling for the completion of the transalpine link.
- Access routes are still being built in the north and south of Switzerland.
- In a joint resolution, they are appealing to the federal government, Rome and Brussels
At a meeting in Bellinzona, both councils emphasized the need for a joint commitment to drive forward the necessary investments at national and European level, as stated in a communiqué.
The meeting represents a "key moment in cross-border legislative cooperation" between the two regions and strengthens the alliance between Ticino and Lombardy for the completion of the north-south rail axis.
The resolution signed on Monday supplements the resolutions adopted by the Ticino Grand Council in 2018 and 2023. These were addressed to the federal government and also called for the completion of the transalpine route. Delaying the expansion of the connections would have serious consequences for the regions concerned and their economic productivity, the signatories warned.
Expansion in Germany by 2040
With the commissioning of the Ceneri Base Tunnel in December 2020, the core of the NRLA was completed. However, the connections to the south and north have not yet been completed. The 4-meter corridor of the Lötschberg-Simplon axis will be extended to Novara by 2028. Switzerland and Italy signed an agreement to this effect in 2020.
The continuation of the NRLA in the north will take even longer: Germany has indeed upgraded various sections of the Rhine Valley Railway between Karlsruhe and Basel to four tracks, as the federal government writes on its website. In addition, the "full expansion" has been approved by the German parliament. However, according to current forecasts, the work will not be completed until after 2040.