Gotthard Express

Threads the 57.1 km Gotthard Base Tunnel: the longest and deepest railway tunnel on the planet.

Since 2016 this corridor has run through the Gotthard Base Tunnel: at 57 km the longest railway tunnel on earth, 2,300 m under the pass at its deepest. SBB’s Giruno sets leave the Zugersee and Lake Lucerne arms behind at Arth-Goldau, vanish under the Alps for twenty minutes, and emerge to palm trees, Bellinzona’s three UNESCO castles and the lake run past Lugano. The 1882 mountain line above, with its famous spiral tunnels, still carries the slow trains for those who want the view instead of the speed.

Stations

1. 0 kmZürich Hauptbahnhof
2. 29 kmZug
3. 45 kmArth-Goldau
4. 53 kmSchwyz
5. 56 kmBrunnen
6. 67 kmFlüelen
7. Show 8 more stations

   1. 70 kmAltdorf UR
   2. 77 kmErstfeld
   3. 122 kmLavorgo
   4. 130 kmBodio
   5. 136 kmBiasca
   6. 152 kmCastione-Arbedo
   7. 155 kmBellinzona
   8. 158 kmGiubiasco
8. 179 kmLugano
9. 204 kmChiasso
10. 208 kmComo San Giovanni
11. 243 kmMonza
12. 255 kmMilano Centrale

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Zugersee shore
• Arth-Goldau beneath the Rigi
• Gotthard Base Tunnel — 57 km
• Bellinzona’s castle trio
• Lake Lugano curves
• Como before the Milan plain

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from 4 OpenStreetMap relations, their own nodes end to end: relation 7787433 (51 km), relation 7779153 (26 km), relation 8392115 (154 km), relation 6782180 (20 km) — 251 km of the route between them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 7 m from it
• Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of EC 13
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Gotthard Express?

The Gotthard Express runs 280 km from Zurich to Milan. It runs through Switzerland and Italy.

How long does the Gotthard Express take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 3 h 17 min for the 280 km. That is an average of 85 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 200 km/h.

Who runs the Gotthard Express?

SBB and Trenitalia, with Giruno / Astoro.

How old is the Gotthard Express?

The line has been in service since 2016. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Gotthard Express run?

Roughly hourly.

View on the world railway map →