Cleanup after train derailment will close key Swiss tunnel for passenger traffic for months
By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) — Train travelers between north and southernmost Switzerland will have to take the scenic route in the coming months. Rail authorities say the cleaning up from a freight train derailment last week in the Gotthard Railway tunnel will take longer than first thought. National railway operator SBB said 16 cars that jumped the tracks in last Thursday’s derailment remain stuck inside the 57-kilometer (35-mile) long Gotthard Railway Tunnel. No one was injured in the derailment but the damage was considerable. Images from the site showed, among other things, wine bottles strewn along the tracks inside the tunnel.