Gotthard railway

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Gotthard railway
Map of the Gotthard railway
Overview
Status	hourly, each day
Owner	Swiss Federal Railways
Locale	Switzerland
Termini	Immensee, Schwyz Chiasso, Ticino
History
Opened	1 June 1882
Technical
Line length	216 km (134 mi) (Immensee-Chiasso)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV  16.7 Hz AC supplied by overhead line (1922)
Highest elevation	1,151 m (3,776 ft)
Maximum incline	27 ‰[1]

The Gotthard railway (German: Gotthardbahn; Italian: Ferrovia del Gottardo), named after the Saint-Gotthard Massif which it crosses, is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between northern and southern Europe, especially on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor. The Gotthard Railway Company (German: Gotthardbahn-Gesellschaft) was the former private railway company that financed the construction of and originally operated that line.

The railway comprises an international main line through Switzerland from Basel (French: Bâle) or Zürich to Immensee to Chiasso, together with branches, from Immensee to Lucerne and Rotkreuz, from Arth-Goldau to Zug or Pfäffikon SZ, and from Bellinzona to Chiasso via Locarno and Luino. At Chiasso, the line connects to the Milan–Chiasso railway, which runs across the Swiss–Italian border. The main line, second highest standard railway in Switzerland, penetrates the Alps using the Gotthard Tunnel at 1,151 metres (3,776 ft) above sea level. The line then descends as far as Bellinzona, at 241 metres (791 ft) above sea level, before climbing again to the pass of Monte Ceneri, on the way to Lugano and Chiasso. The extreme differences in altitude necessitate the use of long ramped approaches on each side, together with seven spirals.

Construction of the line started in 1872, with some lowland sections opening by 1875. The full line opened in 1882, following the completion of the Gotthard Tunnel. The line was incorporated into the Swiss Federal Railways in 1909 and electrified in 1922. The line has 36 tunnels totaling 31,216 meters.^{[citation needed]}

The approaches to the existing tunnel continue to restrict speed and capacity on this important international route, and in 1992 it was decided to build a new lower level route on the Gotthard axis as part of the NRLA project. This route involves the construction of the new Gotthard Base Tunnel and Ceneri Base Tunnel. The Gotthard Base Tunnel has been completed and was integrated with the existing route in 2016, while the Ceneri Base Tunnel was opened in 2020.

By the early 1870s, northern Switzerland had a significant network of railways, with links to the adjoining railways of Germany and France. To the west, a line had reached Brig, in the upper Rhone valley, from Lausanne. In the central north, lines linked Olten, Lucerne, Zug and Zürich. However, no line had yet reached through the Alps to southern Switzerland or the border with Italy. All north-to-south rail traffic had to pass either to the west or east of Switzerland through the Mont-Cenis, Semmering or Brenner railways.^[4]

A north-south route through Switzerland had been discussed as far back as 1848. An international conference in Bern in 1869 had decided that the best route would be via the valleys of the rivers Reuss and Ticino, linked by a tunnel under the Gotthard Pass. The selected route was an ancient one that pilgrims and traders had used since at least the 13th century.^[4][5]

Treaties for the construction of the line were made with the Kingdom of Italy, in 1869, and the German Empire, in 1871. The Gotthard Railway Company was incorporated in Lucerne in 1871. To the overall costs of CHF 238 million (in 1869/71) the Italian government eventually contributed CHF 58 million (£2.25 million),^[4] with Germany contributing CHF 30 million (£1.25 million).^[4][6]

Construction of the Gotthard railway started in 1872, and the first lowland sections from Biasca to Locarno and Lugano to Chiasso were opened by 1874.

The whole line was inaugurated with festivities in Lucerne and Chiasso from 21 May to 25 May 1882. Scheduled operations started on 1 June. At the time, the 15,003-metre-long (49,222 ft) Gotthard Rail Tunnel was the world's longest rail tunnel (seconded by the Simplon Tunnel in 1906). Soon after construction, the army secured the line with fortresses (for instance, above Airolo, and at Biasca) and ways to block the tunnel in case of an invasion (among others, an artificial landslide to block the southern tunnel entrance).

At the same time, the Aargauische Südbahn completed the section from Rotkreuz to Immensee,^{[citation needed]} which provided a rail link from Aarau. The additional feeder lines from Lucerne to Immensee, and from Zug to Arth-Goldau were completed in 1887.

Gotthard Railway Double Track[7]
Segment	Opening double track
Immensee — Brunnen	01.05.1904
Brunnen — Sisikon	15.09.1947
Sisikon — Flüelen	01.03.1943
Flüelen — Altdorf	15.01.1896
Altdorf — Erstfeld	06.12.1896
Erstfeld — Silenen Amsteg	09.04.1893
Silenen Amsteg — Gurtnellen	14.05.1893
Gurtnellen — Wassen	26.06.1892
Wassen — Göschenen	28.05.1893
Göschenen — Airolo	01.06.1883
Airolo — Ambri Piotta	02.09.1890
Ambri Piotta — Rodi Fiesso	31.07.1890
Rodi Fiesso — Faido	28.05.1890
Faido — Lavorgo	13.09.1891
Lavorgo — Giornico	27.03.1892
Giornico — Bodio	01.05.1892
Bodio — Biasca	15.05.1892
Biasca — Osogna	31.05.1896
Osognia — Bellinzona	19.04.1896
Bellinzona — Giubiasco	01.06.1883
Giubiasco — Al Sasso	20.12.1922
Al Sasso — Rivera Bironico	21.01.1934
Rivera Bironico — Mezzovico	27.03.1942
Mezzovico — Taverne Torricella	02.05.1946
Taverne Torricella — Lugano	30.04.1942
Lugano — Melide	10.10.1915
Melide — Bissone	02.04.1965
Bissone — Maroggia Melano	03.06.1956
Maroggia Melano — Mendrisio	01.10.1913
Mendrisio — Chiasso	01.05.1912

The Gotthard Railway graphic timetable contains a great variety of information with regards to material and especially operational aspects in the year 1899, 17 years after the inauguration of the Gotthard tunnel and completion of the railway. The map key and captions to each column are to be found at the top of the page. Leading from left to right information is given on the location of each station's elevation in relation to sea level, the longitudinal profile, signal lights, tunnels and their length, for each route section on southbound journeys the greatest gradient, distances, employed telegraphs and their networking, signal bells and their connection, telephones, block stations, track layout of the respective station and their equipment, total usable length of the remaining tracks, the longest side track, station names and distances between them, distance to point of origin and between main stations. Departure and arrival times are displayed within the graphic timetable.

Information can be drawn as to the tunnel's vertex which lies at 1154.5 meters above sea level and the fact that the tunnel does not run in a straight line but rather in a slope down from either side of its vertex. The tunnel was designed in such a way that inflowing water would be able to drain. From the railway station of Göschenen to the tunnel's vertex the train lines ascend at an angle of 6 ‰ and descend at 2 ‰ from vertex to the village of Airolo. The tunnel's length is indicated to be 14,998 meters, its vertex being at kilometre 80. The old Gotthard railways' distances were measured from the town of Immensee, as clearly indicated on the graphic timetable.

Electrical Telegraphs and signal bells are listed on the distance column's right and a detailed description thereof is to be found in the chapters The Gotthard railway Telegraph Network and The Gotthard railway Signal Bells.

The track layout of each station shows that in 1899 the Gotthard railway ran on double-tracks from the villages of Flüelen to Giubiasco. Facing north the picture on the right shows the watchman's house at the Mondascia bridge depicts the double-tracks and advance signal to the entry signal before Biasca (at 132.5 km), mentioned in the timetable. The next picture on the right shows the Pianotondo viaduct and the Pianotono-spiral tunnel's upper gate with its watchman's house, which came into use during the days of the double-track steam service, roughly at the time of the graphic timetable's validity.

The graphic timetable sees two tracks running southwards from Giubiasco station. One is signposted "Chiasso", the other "Luino/Locarno". From this point onwards the railway runs on single tracks. Giubiasco's neighbouring stations to the south, Rivera-Bironico and Cadenazzo, are all on single tracks. At each underpass on the Ceneri section it is clearly visible to this day that these were built at greatly different points in time. The Giubiasco-Al Sasso^[8] and Al Sasso-Rivera sections were equipped with double-tracks in 1922 and 1934 respectively.

The graphic timetable is a two-dimensional image of the train journeys. Time is displayed horizontally from midnight XII o'clock to midnight XII o'clock. The stations along the journey, from Zug and Lucerne to Chiasso, Locarno and Luino are displayed vertically. The first scheduled train, an express train with 1st, 2nd and 3rd class carriages, leaves Bellinzona at 03:17. The train with the number 55 is powered by a steam locomotive and, according to the timetable, does not make a scheduled stop at Giubiasco, Rivera-Bironico and Taverne. Arrival at Lugano is scheduled at 04:09, from where it leaves again at 04:14. In 1899 the entire train journey from Bellinzona to Lugano was scheduled to be 52 minutes. Today (2017), the same journey on one of the EC trains takes 27 minutes. The illustrations shows that between Giubiasco and Rivera Bironico trains do not pass each other as in 1899 this was, as mentioned in the paragraph above, a single track line. This information can thus be drawn form both, the stations' track layout and the graphic timetable. Also visible on the graphic timetable is the fact that between Osogna and Biasca, trains however do pass each other along their journeys, it being a double-track line. Further, the Arth-Rigi-Bahn's trains (nowadays Rigi Railways), are also listed in the Gotthard railways' timetable. The timetable's scale is 15mm/hour horizontally and 1.75mm/km vertically.

To coordinate trains, the Gotthard railway used a telegraph-network, which linked up all railway stations on the entire line from Luzern to Chiasso, Locarno and Luino. This network is pointed out on the left hand side of the graphic timetable dated 1899. The telegraphs for every railway station shown on the timetable are marked with a black dot. As a detailed section from the timetable shows, the Biasca station used four telegraphs at that time. One of those telegraphs linked all stations from Biasca to Bellinzona. Whatever message was tapped out on this telegraph (sent by morse code), was transmitted to all stations up to Bellinzona. A second telegraph linked all stations from Biasca to Göschenen. What was tapped out on the third telegraph, reached only the railway stations Bellinzona, Faido, Airolo, Göschenen, Wassen and Erstfeld. The fourth telegraph was for long distances. Messages transmitted from there reached Bellinzona, Airolo, Erstfeld, Goldau and Luzern. The telegraphs with their Morse keys and the telegraph-relays were produced by Gustav Hasler [de] (Bern).

The Gotthardbahn employed signal bells within its stations and along the line to signal any approaching train. An alarm was triggered once a train had left a neighbouring station or block station. These signal bells were partly installed along the line and signalled any construction worker of an approaching train. In addition, any railway watchman's house and railroad crossing would be equipped with a signal bell. Southbound trains were signalled by 3 triple chimes, northbound trains by two double chimes. The signalling mechanism at each signal bell had to be manually wound up every day by station employees and railway watchmen. Part of the mechanism was a weight having to be raised by help of a pulley. The electric signal triggering the alarm operated a relay, activating the bell's hammer through force of the aforementioned weight. Each signal bell within the Gotthard railway's network is marked on the graphic timetable. The railway watchman's house number 159 (Casello 159) signal bell on the Monte Ceneri line between Giubiasco and Rivera-Bironico is shown as an example in the timetable's excerpt. A southbound train departing Giubiasco for Rivera-Bironico would trigger alarms of eleven different signal bells on its 11 kilometres long journey. Around 1980 these signal bells were decommissioned.

In the Gotthard Railway's early days ultrasound was not available to examine the tracks. Fractures within these were far more common than today, when special ultrasound equipped trains are employed in the maintenance process. The railway watchman was especially important in ensuring the Gotthard railway's safe operation. A railway watchman was assigned to a special segment of tracks which he had to inspect every day. Fractures, deformations and the tracks' general condition were to be reported to the track master. Tending to loose screws and cutting down shrubs were also part of the watchman's job description. Also putting out small shrub fires, caused by the heavily employed brakes of downhill running cargo trains, were part of his duty. The railway watchman was equipped with a red flag to be able to stop trains in an emergency. The Gotthard railway's watchmen lived in specially provided watchman houses along the line. In Italian these watchman's houses are called Casello.^[9] Every day they had to inspect the tracks up to the next watchman's segment. The watchman houses were built along the entire Gotthard line with distances of up to 4 kilometres between them and were all numbered. From 1950 onward the track inspections did not require as many inspections as before. Between Giubiasco and Rivera the railway watchmen then only had to perform such an inspection every other day. Their former watchman houses now remained unmanned and were subsequently used as holiday homes or private dwellings. From 1995 onward the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) turned to selling these watchman houses.

The Gotthard Railway Company worked the Gotthard railway until 1909, when it became part of the Swiss Federal Railways. This was seven years after the creation of that state owned railway, and the Gotthard railway was the last major railway to be absorbed. In 1922, the whole line was electrified by Brown, Boveri & Cie with 15 kV  16.7 Hz AC supplied by overhead line.^[4]

The approaches to the Gotthard Tunnel are susceptible to rockfalls, regularly leading to closures of the railway line. In the worst such incident in recent times, the Gotthard line was closed to all traffic for almost one month following a rockfall near Gurtnellen on 5 June 2012, which killed one rail worker and injured two others. The closure caused massive disruption of both passenger and international freight traffic.^[10][11]

v t e Gotthard Railway
Legend
elevation (M) or length (m) km km elevation (M) or length (m) Thalwil–Arth-Goldau railway to Zürich 0.0 Zug 425 M Zug Postplatz Zug tunnel 585 m Rotkreuz goods yard Zug Casino Zug Fridbach Rotkreuz 99.4 Zug Oberwil Rupperswil–Immensee railway line to Basel Lotenbach tunnel 36 m Olten–Lucerne Railway to Olten and Basel via Hauenstein line Walchwil Hörndli Bern–Wolhusen–Lucerne Railway to Bern via Wolhusen Brünig railway Bühl tunnel 90 m 436 M Lucerne 0.0 199 m Schönheim tunnel 9.5 Walchwil 449 M 326 m Gütsch tunnel Rossplatten tunnel 48 m 2,107 m Musegg tunnel St. Adrian tunnel 65 m Lucerne Verkehrshaus (Swiss Museum of Transport) 166 m Schiltenneune tunnel Rufibach tunnel 40 m 113 m Seeburg tunnel Meggen Zentrum Kalkofen tunnel 69 m Meggen 10.7 Merlischachen Mühlefluh tunnel 192 m Küssnacht am Rigi Lucerne–Immensee railway to Lucerne 107.2 0.0 Rupperswil–Immensee railway line Freight route to Rotkreuz 460 M Immensee 19.2 0.0 465 M Brunnmatt 04.3 Thalwil–Arth-Goldau railway to Zug and Zürich 200 m Rindelfluh tunnel Arth–Rigi railway to Arth   Arth–Rigi railway line to Rigi Kulm Arth-Goldau station forecourt 15.8   8.9 Arth-Goldau link to Arth–Rigi railway line Pfäffikon–Arth-Goldau railway to Biberbrugg and Rapperswil 13.9 Steinen 467 M 455 M Schwyz 17.0 Schwyz tramway Muota bridge 54 m Brunnen Stegstuden (planned) Mühlibähnli Schwyz tramway 20.5 Brunnen 438 M to Lake Brunnen Klosterbach bridge Brunnen 83 m Gütsch tunnel 558 m Morschach tunnel Morschach tunnel 1,372 m former route 1882–1948 Wasiwand tunnel Brunnen-Morschach railway to Brunnen │ to Axenstein 584 m Hochfluh tunnel 193 m Franziskus tunnel Frohalp tunnel 2,793 m 1,987 m Ölberg tunnel 26.0 Canton of Schwyz Canton of Uri 440 M 26.4 Sisikon 446 M 988 m Stutzeck tunnel 048 m Gumpischbach bridge 171 m Tellsplatte tunnel Stutzeck-Axenberg tunnel 3,375 m 1,128 m Axenberg tunnel 128 m Sulzeck tunnel 100 m Old Gruonbach gallery New Gruonbach gallery 98 m 30.9 Gruonbach gallery 440 M 436 M Flüelen 32.3 Altdorf–Flüelen tramway to Altdorf 35.3 Altdorf 447 M 38.5 Ried 460 M 38.7 Rynächt 456 M Gotthard Base Tunnel 57 km 41.6 Erstfeld 472 M tunnel construction site siding 46.5 Amsteg-Silenen 544 M Windgällen tunnel 183 m Chärstelenbach bridge 127 m Bristen tunnel 709 m Intschireuss bridge 121 m Intschi tunnel 88 m 50.0 Intschi 627 M 50.5 Zgraggental 643 M Zgraggental bridge 89 m Zgraggen tunnel 68 m Breiten tunnel 57 m Meitschlingen tunnel 74 m Säcken bridge 120 m Mörschlisbach gallery 25 m 54.4 Gurtnellen 738 M Häggeribach tunnel 92 m 0053 m Muhren tunnel 1,476 m Pfaffensprung spiral tunnel 58.4 Pfaffensprung 834 M 1,090 m Leggistein curved tunnel Mühle tunnel 88 m 0040 m Stahlloch tunnel Lower Meienreuss bridge 60 m 0054 m Upper Meienreuss bridge Kirchberg tunnel 300 m 0078 m Maienkreuz tunnel Middle Meienreuss bridge 122 m 0102 m Upper Entschigtal gallery Middle Entschigtal gallery 185 m 0070 m Kellerbach bridge 62.8 Wassen 928 M 1,019 M Eggwald 66.6 Rohrbach tunnel 230 m 0061 m Rohrbach bridge Wattingen curved tunnel 1,084 m 1,570 m Naxberg tunnel 70.4 Göschenen 1,106 M Gotthard Tunnel 15,003 m MGB line to Andermatt formerly FO/Schöllenenbahn Andermatt Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway formerly Furka Oberalp Railway 75.4 Gotthard Nord 1,133 M summit 78.7 Maintenance station 1,151 M 80.9 Canton of Uri Canton of Ticino 75.3 Gotthard Nord 1,150 M Gotthard Tunnel 15,003 m 86.2 Airolo 1,141 M Dragoner tunnel 9 m Stalvedro bridge 83 m Stalvedro tunnel 196 m 89.7 Sordo 1,063 M 93.0 Ambri-Piotta 1,062 M 97.8 Rodi-Fiesso 988 M 353 m Dazio tunnel Freggio spiral tunnel 1,568 m Artoito tunnel 74 m 147 m Monte Piottino tunnel 101.9 Pardorea 851 M 1,560 m Prato spiral tunnel Pardorea tunnel 276 m Broscerina tunnel 43 m Polmengo bridge over Ticino 103 m Polmengo tunnel 304 m 106.0 Faido 755 M 109.4 Chiggiogna 674 M 112.6 Lavorgo 615 M 466 m Lume tunnel Pianotondo spiral tunnel 1,508 m Piantondo bridge 111 m 072 m Toumiquet tunnel Travi spiral tunnel 1,547 m 121.1 Giornico 410 M 121.7 Giornico 448 M Lower Ticino bridge 120 m AlpTransit Gotthard siding (tunnel construction site) Gotthard Base Tunnel 57 km 125.5 Bodio 331 M Pozzo Negro 128.9 Pollegio 305 M 129.7 Pasquerio link 298 M 107 m Moesa River Moesa River 68 m Biasca–Acquarossa railway 131.8 Biasca 293 M Crocetto tunnel 275 m Giustizia tunnel 64 m Gotthard South new line 129.7 135.2 Giustizia 272 M 138.0 Osogna-Cresciano 264 M 143.5 Claro 250 M Bellinzona–Mesocco railway to Cama 147.3 Castione-Arbedo 241 M Moesa 85 m 149.8 Bellinzona S. Paolo Marshalling yard 241 M 150.9 Bellinzona 241 M Montebello tunnel 290 m Dragonata tunnel 30 m 154.0 Giubiasco 230 M Camorino 060 m A2 motorway 15,288 m 15,465 m Ceneri Base Tunnel 0,000 m to Giubiasco–Locarno Ry & Cadenazzo–Luino Ry 000.0 000.0 0,000 m 212 M Sant'Antonino 156.8 0,000 m 208 M Cadenazzo 159.5 203 M Cadenazzo Ovest 161.0 Giubiasco–Locarno railway Cadenazzo–Luino railway 256 m Ticino Riazzino 163.9 Quartino 201 M Riazzino-Cugnasco 163.9 166.9 Magadino-Vira 215 M 202 M Riazzino 164.8 170.5 San Nazzaro 211 M Gordola 166.6 172.8 Gerra 101 m Verzasca 173.7 Ranzo-Sant'Abbondio 220 M 203 M Tenero 167.8 175.9 Switzerland Italy border 067 m Mappo Oleggio–Pino railway to Pino, Luino and Oleggio 764 m Rocca Bella 205 M Locarno 171.9 Domodossola–Locarno railway to Domodossola 158.0 Vigana Costa tunnel 68 m 097 m Piantorino bridge (west) Piantorino bridge (east) 63 m 402 m Precassino tunnel Precassino-Maggiagra tunnel 713 m 102 m Maggiagra tunnel Robasacco bridge 48 m 161.4 Al Motto 353 M 1,692 m Monte Ceneri II Tunnel Monte Ceneri I Tunnel 1,675 m 165.2 Rivera-Bironico 472 M 168.9 Mezzovico 416 M 170.0 Mezzovico 399 M Molinero tunnel 75 m 171.3 Mezzovico-Sigirino 378 M 175.0 Taverne-Torricella 334 M Freight line (opened 1977) 134 m A2 motorway 176.1 Lamone-Cadempino 319 M 291 M Lugano Vedeggio freight yard 178.5 177.9 Lamone 319 M Ceneri Base Tunnel 943 m Massagno tunnel Lugano–Tesserete railway and Lugano–Cadro–Dino railway 180.4 Lugano 335 M Lugano–Ponte Tresa Railway to Ponte Tresa Tassino bridge 40 m Brentino bridge 69 m 182.8 Lugano-Paradiso 303 M Paradiso 757 m S. Martino-Tunnel 53 m 186.1 siding 278 M 187.2 Melide 274 M Melide causeway across Lake Lugano Melide bridge 81 m Bissone bridge 181 m Maroggia tunnel 569 m 191.0 Maroggia-Melano 279 M Mendrisio electric tramway Molino tunnel 7 m 194.6 Capolago-Riva San Vitale 274 M Monte Generoso railway to Monte Generoso Mendrisio San Martino 198.7 Mendrisio 328 M Mendrisio–Stabio railway to Stabio Coldrerio tunnel 96 m 274 M Balerna Junction 269 M Balerna 203.5 616 m Balerna tunnel Chiasso SM 244 M Chiasso SM Marshalling yard 205.3 50.8 206.2 Chiasso 237 M Switzerland Italy border Milan–Chiasso railway to Milan Milan–Chiasso railway to Como

The Lucerne branch of the Gotthard railway commences in Lucerne station, facing the south shore of Lake Lucerne. From here it undertakes a 270 degree turn, heading first south, then west, north and east, as well as crossing the river Reuss, to reach the north shore of the lake. From here it continues along the west shore of the Küssnacht arm of the lake to reach Immensee station. Here it meets the Rotkreuz branch, which runs from Rotkreuz to the north.^[14]

Immensee station is considered the starting point of the main line of the Gotthard railway, and official distances to all points south are measured from here. From Immensee, the line follows the Lake of Zug to Arth-Goldau station, at an altitude of 510 metres (1,670 ft). Here it joined by the Zug branch of the Gotthard railways, and there is a junction with the Südostbahn route to Rapperswil and Romanshorn. Connection is also made with the Arth-Rigi-Bahn, a rack railway climbing the mountain Rigi.^[14]

The Zug branch of the Gotthard railway commences in the city of Zug. It makes a junction, in Zug station, with the line to Zürich via Thalwil. The line then follows the east shore of the Lake of Zug to reach Arth-Goldau.^[14]

From Arth-Goldau, the line then follows the Lauerzer See and passes Schwyz, the capital of the canton of Schwyz, at an altitude of 455 metres (1,493 ft). From Brunnen to Flüelen, the line follows the Lake Lucerne (that part of it is also referred to as Urnersee). In that section, the Axen, the two tracks follow two different routes mainly in tunnel because the second track was built later (up to 1943) and on a straighter route through longer tunnels.^[14]

At Flüelen station, the railway makes a connection with the steamer services on Lake Lucerne. Steamers operate a shorter, in distance, but longer, in time, service to the city of Lucerne, serving many other towns and villages along the lake shore. The Gotthard Panorama Express uses this interchange to provide its tourist oriented boat and rail service between Lucerne and Lugano.^[5]

Erstfeld, at an altitude of 472 metres (1,549 ft), is reached via Altdorf. The depot at Erstfeld station houses rolling stock needed for the Gotthard route, i.e. for banking service. A Ce 6/8 "crocodile" serves as a memorial for the legendary Gotthard locomotives.^[15]

For the whole of the northern ramp from Erstfeld to Göschenen, the line follows the valley of the Reuss. The track now gets steeper with a gradient of up to 27 ‰.^[1] After Amsteg the line passes the Chärstelenbach Bridge and changes the side of the valley over the Intschireuss Bridge, which is, with its 77 metres (253 ft), the highest bridge in the SBB network.^[15]

After Gurtnellen, at an altitude of 738 metres (2,421 ft), the first of several tunneled railway spirals is encountered; their purpose is mainly to gain height where no space is available. Two of them form the double loop of Wassen, at an altitude of 928 metres (3,045 ft), which allows the famous church of Wassen to be seen three times from different perspectives, first from below and the last time from 200 metres (660 ft) above. The line passes over the Reuss twice, and the Meienreuss three times in this section.^[15]

After a 1,570-metre-long (5,150 ft) tunnel, the line reaches Göschenen station, at an altitude of 1,106 metres (3,629 ft). Here the Gotthard line meets the Schöllenenbahn, a metre gauge rack operated branch of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn that ascends to Andermatt, where connections can be made over the Oberalppass to Chur or through the Furka Base Tunnel to Brig.^[15]

Immediately after Göschenen station, the Gotthard railway enters the Gotthard Tunnel, a 15,003-metre-long (49,222 ft), double-track tunnel, built as one tube. The highest point of the Gotthard line is within this tunnel, 1,151 metres (3,776 ft) above sea level, which makes it the second highest standard railway in Switzerland, after the Lötschberg railway line, the other main north-south axis in the country. Here the tunnel crosses the border between the canton of Uri and the canton of Ticino, and line passes from the German-speaking part of Switzerland to the Italian-speaking part.^[15]

The line exits the tunnel at Airolo, at an altitude of 1,142 metres (3,747 ft) in the valley of the river Ticino, which it follows as far as Bellinzona.^[16] Both north and south portals are within a few hundreds metres from those of the Gotthard Road Tunnel.

After passing through Airolo station, the line crosses the Ticino and descends through its valley in the Leventina. Between Airolo and Biasca the line falls by no less than 849 metres (2,785 ft) in 46 kilometres (29 mi).^[16]

At Piotta, the Funicolare del Ritom ascends to the Ritom dam. Beyond Rodi-Fiesso, at an altitude of 942 metres (3,091 ft), the most impressive section of the southern ramp begins. The valley narrows to the Piotta canyon, and the line passes two spirals ("Piottino-Loops") to lose 200 metres (660 ft) in height before reaching Faido. Two more spirals, known as the "Biaschina-Loops", lead the line down to Giornico, at an altitude of 391 metres (1,283 ft).^[16]

By the time the line has arrived at Biasca, at an altitude of 293 metres (961 ft), the valley has widened, and the gradient reduced. From Biasca station the line continues to follow the Ticino as far as Bellinzona, at an altitude of 241 metres (791 ft) and the capital of the canton of Ticino.^[16]

Just beyond Bellinzona station, a major junction is reached at Giubiasco. Here the original main line branches off what is now considered the main Gotthard line to Lugano and Chiasso.^[16][17]

What was originally considered the main line continues down the valley of the Ticino, crossing the Italian border and continuing to meet the Italian railway system at Pino on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore. The line beyond Pino to the Italian town of Luino, although Italian-owned, has always been operated as part of the Swiss system.^[18]

At Cadenazzo on the line to Pino, a further branch crosses the Ticino and runs a short distance down the western shore of Lago Maggiore to a terminus at the Swiss resort town of Locarno. Transfer can be made at Locarno station to the international metre gauge Domodossola–Locarno railway.