Most people spend a big chunk of their lives on the road, commuting from one area to the next. While they could have spent so much time working, they’re stuck in their cars as they fight their way through traffic. It’s such an inconvenience, but they’re left with no choice.
Switzerland boasts of beautiful mountains and sceneries, but they also have their fair share of traffic problems. Hence, they’ve thought about a new and ambitious mode of freight transportation. This dream is slowly become a reality for the country.
Switzerland has started their planning stages last August 1. They’re looking into building an automated tunnel network that would bring cargo in shipping pods on a self-charging rail system to its designated destination.
The name of the company is Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), or ‘Underground Cargo.’ They will commence with a 46-mile (70 kilometer) stretch that runs from Zurich to major logistics hub in Härkingen/Niederbipp. In time, this may grow to as many as 310 miles of tunnels (or a total of 500 km) that connects all the important Swiss cantons.
The best part is that the tunnel will be powered by renewable energy. In fact, the project is estimated to be able to cover as much as 40 percent of all freight-bearing traffic off the roadways, and it will do so in a sustainable fashion. This will not involve clearing any land for additional roads, which makes construction easy. The electric pods will also be getting continuous electric charges as they travel through the induction rails.
A similar set of tracks will also be built as these will run along the tunnel ceilings for transporting baskets that contain smaller parcels.
As for the tunnel size, these will be around 20 feet in diameter. The pods themselves will be large enough to carry one or two pallets. For the refrigerated packages, these will also be brought via a special carry that serves temperature-sensitive goods. The tunnel will have terminals that will hold large elevators that pull the pods and podlets from underground and brought up into fulfilment centers. For those worried about railway jams, there will be dynamic tracks built into the system designed to protect the packages from these issues.
Federalism has been built to be sturdy in the Swiss governmental structure. This means that each canton will handle the project as they have chosen to. Unfortunately, Europe is experiencing rapid inflation problems. Everyone has felt it, but the Swiss are known for their fiscal discipline and have maintained to do so. Thus, the tracks don’t need to use public money for this specific project.
“No subsidies are being used in building the infrastructure and operating the tunnel,” the parliament ruled.
The country’s Federal Council has ruled out co-financing CST with public funds. There is some new legislation from the Swiss government and the company has with them a total of US $100 million in private investment. This money had already been sourced pre-emptively in the years before.
The tunnel project is very much like with the different hyperloop ideas for American passenger transport. But if the plans are going to be implemented and they will have to shell out billions for it, the Swiss government will have to find $35 billion in investment just so they can complete this by 2045. The freight idea may seem like a wiser use of underground rails because in so many cases, problems such as safety, comfort, and aesthetics won’t be so much of a priority.
Right now, two other Swiss cantons in addition to Zurich, the St. Gallen and Thurgau, have also been interested in the idea and consider this to be “economically feasible.”
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