The EU Decides, Switzerland Pays: The Gothard Tunnel Example

The Gotthard Base Tunnel accident left Swiss Federal Railways facing 150 million Swiss francs in repair costs, while a court ruling has challenged the country’s attempt to tighten safety rules.

A freight train derailed inside the tunnel on Aug. 10, 2023, after a wheel broke. The incident paralyzed what the article describes as the world’s longest rail transit route for 13 months. The material damage is estimated at 150 million Swiss francs, and years of legal disputes are expected. Until those disputes are settled, Swiss Federal Railways must advance the repair money.

The accident also exposed what the author calls a stark political and economic imbalance. Switzerland responded by seeking stricter regulations to protect its infrastructure. But the Federal Administrative Court recently annulled safety requirements issued by the Federal Office of Transport.

For Phyllis Scholl, a lawyer specializing in economic law and the PLR mayor of Kilchberg in the canton of Zurich, the ruling demonstrates how agreements with the European Union limit Switzerland’s room to act. Her argument is that the country sought stronger controls after a costly infrastructure failure, yet its own measures were judged incompatible with those agreements.

The result, as framed in the opinion, is a system in which Switzerland carries the financial burden of the disruption while its regulatory choices remain constrained by the legal relationship with the EU.