Last week, a post made by Italy’s state rail operator FS allowed the critical reader to infer a likely comeback of the long-term closed Frejus tunnel in March. However, in the absence of an official confirmation, there was no hundred per cent certainty.
When FS announced the return of its Paris – Milan high-speed service by April, it meant that the Frejus tunnel also had to be back in use by that point. No separate announcement of the tunnel’s reopening was made, by either Italy or France.
That is until now. The tunnel “should” reopen in March, according to statements made by French infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau to RailTech.com.
Shut down for over a year
The rail link through the Frejus tunnel was shut down for over a year after a landslide at the end of August 2023 paralysed the connection. The incident upended the main border crossing between Italy and France.
In October of 2024, it became clear that works to secure the cliff above the Frejus railway would last until December. Only after that, the French infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau could begin railway restoration operations.
Major complications
That was not an easy task, it turned out. Major complications – “unstable and deep cavities discovered in the central area of the slope required additional work” – meant that the full reopening was pushed back to the first quarter of 2025.