2023-08-17 19:42:04
“We were lucky in misfortune. There was no personal injury. More serious things could have happened elsewhere.” With these words, Vincent Ducrot, CEO of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), commented on the derailment of a freight train in the Gotthard Base Tunnel. He didn’t mean to trivialize the accident. This has “serious consequences” for both SBB and the economy, Ducrot said in a press conference.
But the rail boss indicated that things could have been much worse if the train had derailed on the open road with oncoming traffic instead of in a tunnel tube. The accident in the world’s longest and most expensive railway tunnel, costing CHF 12 billion to build, happened at the end of last week. However, the extent of the damage has only just become known and has also surprised the SBB. Because the damage turned out to be much greater than expected.
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