The world’s second deepest tunnel has been reopened after three months of renovations.
Planning to drive between France and Italy in 2025? Now you can take the Mont-Blanc Tunnel, which hyperlinks the 2 nations beneath the Alps, because it has been reopened after months of renovation work.
A 600-metre stretch of the 11-kilometre tunnel was utterly reconstructed.
Different ‘scenic’ routes proceed to be obtainable however do add to your journey time. Right here’s how you can plan your Europe street journey round this coming yr.
Why was the Mont-Blanc Tunnel closed?
Opened in 1965, the Mont-Blanc freeway tunnel hyperlinks Chamonix in Haute Savoie, southeast France, with Courmayer in Aosta Valley, northwest Italy.
It’s a part of the north-south European route E25, which runs from the Hook of Holland right down to the ferry crossing from Cagliari to Palermo in Sicily.
Mendacity 2,480 metres beneath the Aiguille du Midi summit, it’s the world’s second deepest tunnel in operation after Switzerland’s Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Varied closures came about all through 2024 to permit for upkeep work, security drills and renovation.
Within the autumn, structural renovation work came about on the vault. This was one of many first main European tunnels to undertake deep renovation work on its construction.
For 15 weeks, completely different reconstruction applied sciences had been examined on two 300 metre stretches of the tunnel. Greater than 150 individuals mobilised to undertake the renovations, which came about 24 hours a day and represented greater than 150,000 hours of labor.
Essentially the most environment friendly and efficient methods might be utilized to an extra 600 metre part throughout one other closure in 2025 – nevertheless no particular dates have been confirmed.
Additional works alongside the tunnel’s whole size are to be anticipated within the coming years, nevertheless the French and Italian governments are in dialogue over whether or not to do a full tunnel closure over 4 years the place the complete vault may be refurbished in a single go, or renovate the tunnel throughout a few a long time with annual four-month closures.
Different routes to the Mont-Blanc Tunnel
Even when the Mont-Blanc Tunnel is closed, it’s nonetheless attainable to drive between France and Italy on completely different routes.
Though these could prolong your journey time, they might prevent cash: the one-way toll for a automobile use to the Mont-Blanc tunnel is €51.50 whereas a return is €64.20.
Round 160 km south of the Mont-Blanc Tunnel, the Fréjus Tunnel connects Modane in France to Bardonecchia in Italy, which is an efficient various route for heavy items automobiles. A one-way journey for vehicles prices €54.10 and a return €67.50.
Toll fee subscriptions together with the TMB card and Eurotoll cowl each tunnels beneath the identical move. When you already maintain a multi-journey low cost passes then this could have been robotically prolonged by 4 months to account for the latest Mont-Blanc Tunnel closure.
Alternatively, the Tunnel du Grand-Saint-Bernard hyperlinks Martigny in Valais, Switzerland, with Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses in Italy’s Aosta Valley. The one-way toll for a automobile is €31.
Situated additional southwest, the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard is a mountain move linking Savoie in France with Aosta Valley. Nonetheless, it might face closures because of heavy snow, so examine the climate earlier than planning your route.
To the north, the Col des Montets mountain move, linking Chamonix with Vallorcine in France – on the border with Valais – is one other route that does get hit by snow closures.
The Tunnel des Montets, a single observe railway tunnel that doubles as a street, can be generally used when the move is closed however usually faces heavy visitors.
The scenic Mont Cenis move between the Cottian Alps in France and the Graian Alps in Italy is usually open to visitors till November, when it closes for the winter season.
The Montgenèvre Go connecting Briançon in France and Cesana Torinese in Italy is an alternative choice for street journey additional south of the Tunnel du Mont-Blanc.
