Mont Blanc tunnel closing postponed amid alpine bottlenecks

The planned closing of the Mont Blanc tunnel, which connects Italy and France, has been postponed. 

The decision comes after a landslide forced the indefinite closing of the neighboring Frejus tunnel, which would have provided an alternate route to send cargo between the two countries. Bottlenecks for freight transportation through the Alps increased last month after a train derailment seriously damaged the Gotthard tunnel which connects Switzerland and Italy. 

The 11.6 kilometer (7.2miles) Mont Blanc tunnel was scheduled to be closed from Sept. 4 to Dec. 18 for renovations, according to a notice published on the Mont Blanc tunnel website. 

Some 223 million tonnes of goods transited the Alps in 2019 and the Mont Blanc tunnel handles 5.4% of that traffic. Last year, more than 1.7 million automobiles utilized the passage, including more than half a million cargo trucks, according to its website. Total two-way trade between France and Italy amounted to $112 billion in 2022, according to the Geneva-based Trade Data Monitor.

After a temporary halt, traffic through the 57-kilometer Gotthard reopened in late August at reduced capacity, forcing freight haulers to seek out alternative routes.