Company | Customers

Saint Gotthard Tunnel

The Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solution demonstrated the reliability required as well as the capability to function optimally in Gotthard Base Tunnel’s challenging environmental conditions.

  • Country: Switzerland
  • Industry: Transportation, Railway
  • Solution: Autonomous Network

The Gotthard Base Tunnel is a feat of engineering. Running through the Alps in Switzerland, the tunnel is the longest and deepest traffic tunnel in the world. The tunnel’s specialized hardened network takes IoT where standard networking cannot, guaranteeing the level of service required for the longest, safest and best connected tunnel in the world, and transporting 9,000 passengers every day in safety and comfort.

This tunnel is designed to last for 100 years. I am sure that the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise colleagues will manage it successfully. They had the last 8 years well under control. They will continue for the next 92 years, or longer. We are also very proud of the AVA Digital award and Muse Creative Award won by Koenigsfilm for our video promoting the partnership between Gotthard tunnel and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.
Peter Huber, Project Leader, Transtec Gotthard

Saint Gotthard Tunnel EN Customer Video

Challenges

  • The tunnel uses a web of IoT devices to manage passenger and vehicle safety 24/7 in an extremely challenging environment, including up to 40°C+ heat and over 70% humidity. An extremely stable and reliable data network was needed to ensure transmission of essential operational data via automated technology.
  • It was critical that the 152-kilometer tunnel area, including 168 cross passages, be connected and secured with IP network connectivity as even minimal network disruption could cause delays and potentially impact worker and passenger safety.

 

Results

Technical:

  • The Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise switches are critical to the operation of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. For 8 years now, the extremely resilient and reliable network has consistently powered the Gotthard Base Tunnel’s web of IoT devices and services such as door monitoring, sensors, cameras, ventilation and drainage infrastructure, communications, and control and monitoring systems, all of which send and/or receive real-time data. Nothing in the Gotthard Base Tunnel works without Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise switches.
  • The almost 1000 OmniSwitch 6855 switches that make up the industrial-grade hardened network connect all of the tunnel’s 70,000 data points successfully in a very harsh and difficult operational environment.

Financial:

  • The tunnel’s extreme environment (i.e. high temperatures and humidity, remote location, metal dust from trains, etc.) would easily damage normal switches. The rugged components that make up the network are built to last, employing a passive cooling mechanism that ensures low maintenance needs and equipment longevity, which leads to lower costs.

User experience:

  • The specialized hardened network enables the Gotthard Base Tunnel to take IoT where standard networking cannot, guaranteeing the level of service required for the longest, safest and best connected tunnel in the world, which transports 9,000 passengers every day in safety and comfort.

Products & Solutions

Products

  • OmniSwitch 6855

Solutions

  • Converged Campus Network

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