snowtownbob Wrote:
========================================
> Virtually all the Swiss trains are electric,
> and the electricity is generated by hydro
> power generated by plants which have
> long lives. So running the freight trains
> is almost certainly cheaper than running
> trucks, particularly bearing in mind the
> high rates of Swiss wages.
John West Wrote:
========================================
> True to a point. But obviously the truckers
> backed up to get through the Gottard tunnel
> have not gotten the message. I'm guessing
> there is some combination of government
> subsidy, restriction on importation through
> Italy, and/or limitation of trucks over the few
> roads into the area.
IMHO, the high cost of diesel fuel in Europe as compared to the U.S. probably has something to do with it as well.
>
... Admittedly I'm just guessing, {but} from
> my railroad experience in the U.S. truckers
> are amazingly resourceful in finding ways
> to get business.
Bob, John et al -
This narrow gauge operation is certainly a far cry from anything that ever existed in the U.S. Anyone who wants to see it at the present level of roughly sixty trains per day had better hurry over there in the next few months, 'cause changes are apparently in the wind
...
From Wikipedia
:"The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a railway tunnel in the heart of the Swiss Alps expected to open in 2016.[3] With a route length of 57 km (35.4 mi) and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 mi) of tunnels, shafts and passages,[2] it is {will be} the world's longest rail tunnel, surpassing the Seikan Tunnel in Japan.
"Its main purpose is to increase total transport capacity across the Alps, especially for freight, notably between Germany and Italy, and more particularly to shift freight volumes from road to rail to reduce environmental damage caused by ever-increasing numbers of heavy lorries. A secondary benefit will be to cut the journey time for passenger trains from Zürich to Milan by about an hour and from Zürich to Lugano to 1-hour 40 minutes.[4]"
For the rest of the article, see [
en.wikipedia.org].
- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender