A glimmer of hope has emerged amidst the uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the Frejus railway tunnel. The tunnel has been closed since 27 August 2023, following a massive landslide in Savoie, on the French side. The landslide caused significant damage to a large section of the railway line outside the main tunnel and affected a secondary 300-metre-long gallery. A statement from Italian Ferrovie dello Stato has announced that Frecciarossa trains will resume operations between Milan and Paris on 1 April 2025, using the Frejus line. However, the Italian railway operator has provided no updates on the resumption of freight train services. Confirmation from the French side came from Alain Krakovitch, Director of TGV-Intercités at SNCF.
In a separate development, the Frejus road tunnel will be completely closed for two days from 10:00 pm on Saturday, 25 January, to 6:00 am on Monday, 27 January 2025. This closure is to allow technical testing ahead of the commissioning of the second tube. This project has also faced repeated delays: initially scheduled for completion in 2023, it was then postponed to the second half of 2024. Once the second tube is operational, traffic will flow in one direction per tube, significantly improving the tunnel’s safety. The new Frejus tube spans 12.9 kilometres, with an internal diameter of eight metres and a six-metre-wide carriageway. It will feature 34 shelters and nine connection points to the historic tunnel.
