In this article, I include resources for you to find info about the current road and public transport situations. I also list important transit disruptions, weather events, and other situations that may affect your Switzerland travel.
This list is not exhaustive and is only updated occasionally. Please consult the regional websites and local news about actual current road closures, trail status and weather conditions before heading out.
Traffic & Transit Resources
For car traffic, you can find current traffic news and disruptions on the TCS.ch website.
For Swiss train info, SBB.ch has a Operations & Disruptions page, which shows disruptions in service, travel notices, construction and other travel notices.
In addition, it can be helpful to look at local Swiss news services that often report travel disruptions before they appear on official transit websites. We use SwissInfo.ch, Blick.ch, 20min.ch
Brienz landslide
On 12 August 2024, a huge storm caused severe damage to to villages and train lines near Brienz.
The Luzern-Interlaken Express is disrupted, with train service only between Luzern and Meiringen. Between Meiringen and Interlaken, there is a replacement bus but capacity is limited and you should expect long waits. You may consider traveling between Interlaken and Luzern via Bern, a two hour journey.
The Brienz Rothornbahn mountain train has decided to close for the rest of the 2024 summer season. Hopefully they will re-open in summer 2025.
Zermatt landslides
In late June 2024, there was extreme flooding and landslides in Zermatt, which have affected the train connection between Visp and Täsch. Trains are running on this line but there can be delays and an occasional replacement bus.
While most of the tourist attractions and trails in Zermatt are unaffected, there are a few trail closures as noted on the Zermatt official website with live status.
See more Zermatt hiking trail status.
SwissInfo.ch article about the flooding
San Bernardino Pass
The road over this mountain pass connects eastern Switzerland with southern Switzerland and Italy (Zurich – Chur – Bellinzona – Locarno/Lugano). Many traveling from Zurich/Chur/Davos to Italy use San Bernardino pass as an alternative to the Gotthard Tunnel.
There is a road over the mountain pass and a 6.3 km tunnel that skips part of that road. Sometimes there are long waits at the tunnel, so people choose to drive over the pass instead.
JUNE 2024: On 21 June 2024, a landslide and flooding destroyed a large portion of the four-lane roadway on this pass road. They expect the road between Thusis and Bellinzona (red line) to be closed for 3-4 weeks or longer. Traffic is being diverted over other mountain roads (blue line) and to the Gotthard pass and tunnel, which will make the traffic situation there even worse than normal. Learn more on Watson.ch and SWR.de.
Gotthard Tunnel
This 17km tunnel under the alps connects northern and southern Switzerland (Lucerne/Zurich to Locarno/Lugano) and Italy.
Excessive car traffic: All year round, there are often long lines of car traffic on both sides of the tunnel, especially on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, Sunday evening, and holiday weekends. You can check the current traffic status on TCS and the Gotthard Tunnel website.
Train disruption: In June 2023, there was a cargo train accident in the tunnel, which has led to disrupted train service. Since then, trains have been using the old “panorama tunnel route” for passenger traffic, leading to longer travel times that usual between Zurich/Lucerne and Lugano/Locarno. The timetables on SBB.ch reflect the actual travel times. This does not affect the Gotthard-Panorama Express, which was using the old tunnel anyway.
SBB recently announced that they plan re-open the regular Gotthard “Basis” tunnel in Sept 2024.
