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Mont Blanc Tunnel to reopen in December

1st November 2001
Page 8
Page 8, 1st November 2001 — Mont Blanc Tunnel to reopen in December
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• by Guy Sheppard Serious congestion in the Alps following last week's fatal blaze in the St Gotthard Tunnel has prompted a decision to reopen the Mont Blanc Tunnel from 15 December.

As Commercial Motor went to press. at least 11 people had died and 30 were still missing after two trucks collided a mile inside the Swiss end of the Gotthard pass.

The tunnel quickly filled with black smoke when tyres and tarpaulins carried by one of the vehicles caught fire. Repairs to the tunnel roof, which collapsed in the intense heat, are not expected to be completed until early next year.

With routes through the Alps currently restricted to the Brenner Pass in Austria and the Frejus Tunnel in France, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) has welcomed news that the Mont Blanc tunnel will reopen before the end of the year. Spokesman Guy Willis says: "We have been told it will reopen on the 15 December and a couple of weeks thereafter It will be open to HG Vs.'

Controversy had surrounded its re-opening, with environmental groups lobbying to keep it closed to HGVs after a similar accident in 1999.

The IRU also appears to be making headway in its bid for a two-tube system with ministers looking at making Frejus one direction and Mont Blanc another. The IRV had warned transport ministers that the accident underlined the need for twin tubes to avoid the risk of collision between vehicles travelling in opposite directions.

Willis says: "The overall message that comes from this accident is that although rail has to play a bigger part in future, you have to reassess these main road transit routes as the economy grows and traffic increases rather than decreases."

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