Passengers trapped in Gotthard Tunnel for 1,5 hours after train breaks down

Look away if you get claustrophobic: passengers on an SBB train to Ticino were trapped in the middle of the Gotthard Tunnel for about an hour and a half on Tuesday evening, due to a technical fault. 

Passengers trapped on train in Gotthard Tunnel for 1,5 hours

As Blick reports, citing an eyewitness report, the train suddenly stopped in the middle of the Gotthard Tunnel on the evening of Tuesday, August 5. Not only that, but most of the train’s lights also suddenly went out. Only the front carriages of the train were lit; everyone else was sitting in darkness. 

According to the report, it was an hour and a half before the passengers could be evacuated from the train. They were escorted through an emergency exit to the other side of the tunnel, where a replacement train came to collect them. 

The reason for the unplanned stop was a technical malfunction, according to Blick. 

Trains break down in Gotthard fairly regularly

This isn’t the first - and almost certainly not the last - time a train has got stuck in the Gotthard Tunnel. Back in August 2023, a freight train derailed in the middle of the tunnel, causing significant damage. 

While one side of the Gotthard reopened a few weeks later, the other side remained closed until September 2024.