If current forecasts hold, the first commercial train will traverse the Mont Cenis base tunnel in 2032. However, as early as February 2025, at least seven years ahead of schedule, Telt—the binational public promoter responsible for constructing and managing the cross-border section of the new Turin-Lyon railway—has prepared and published the first draft of the Network Information Prospectus (NIP). Available online and primarily intended for railway companies planning to operate on the future cross-border line, the document provides an initial overview of the track’s characteristics, usage regulations, and the overall capacity of the transalpine section.
The NIP will be continuously updated and refined until the final version is completed when the new railway becomes operational. Key sections such as "Capacity Allocation," "Services and Pricing," "Railway Operations," and "Service Installations" are already outlined in the initial draft, with further details to be added later. Telt deserves credit for this rare move—preparing the foundational document for the new line well in advance—allowing all stakeholders to review it, provide feedback, and request additions.
The NIP already contains some definitive details on the track’s characteristics, particularly within the tunnel, and on the line’s capacity. The cross-border section stretches 65 kilometres from Susa/Bussoleno to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, incorporating the 57.5-kilometre Mont Cenis base tunnel. It will accommodate both passenger and freight trains but is primarily designed to facilitate commercial transport, featuring a maximum gradient of just 12.5 per thousand. This is a significant improvement over the existing historical route, which is now largely unsuitable due to its steep inclines and tight curvature.
Freight trains conforming to the European standard length of up to 750 metres will be able to use the entire new section at speeds ranging from 100 to 120 km/h, depending on their specifications. Traditional intermodal transport and Modalohr technology-based transport will be permitted to haul a maximum mass of 1,600 tonnes, while conventional freight trains will have a higher threshold of 2,050 tonnes. The regulations also stipulate safety requirements for hazardous goods convoys, which must maintain a minimum distance of 4,200 metres from any passenger train.
The prospectus also reveals a detail that has remained largely unspoken until now. It has long been claimed that one of the key features of the new railway is its ability to accommodate all types of freight trains, particularly intermodal transport, without clearance restrictions. While this is broadly true, there is a limitation: only the new cross-border section, currently in an advanced stage of construction by Telt, meets the highest parameters for tunnel circulation.
The access lines on both the Italian and French sides may still impose different clearance restrictions, designated as AFM 427, which require the use of lowered wagons for intermodal services. Conversely, the Mont Cenis tunnel and the entire transalpine section allow freight wagons with a standard floor height—one metre above the rolling plane—enabling standard road vehicles to be loaded without any constraints. This restriction will remain in place until new access lines are built on both the Italian and French sides.
It almost goes without saying that the new railway, and especially the base tunnel, will feature the most advanced safety systems. These will monitor external factors such as temperature, wind speed and direction, precipitation, snow height, and atmospheric pressure, while also conducting real-time surveillance of all trains using multiple parameters, including thermographic inspections, clearance limit checks, anti-derailment systems, axle box temperature monitoring, pantograph condition assessments, dynamic wheel weighing, and cargo anomaly detection.
Piermario Curti Sacchi
