© Domingos Oliveira / RTL
Following the collapse of the Schieburg tunnel between Kautenbach and Wilwerwiltz on Saturday, national railway company CFL has provided further insights into the situation.
The train line 10 between Ettelbruck and Gouvy was initially scheduled to be shut from 20 August to 12 September due to maintenance work. Since the tunnel collapsed, officials are no longer confident that route 10 can fully reopen on 13 September as planned.
Spokeswoman Allesandra Nonnweiler provided insight into how the collapse came about. She explained that part of the maintenance operation was to check the stability of the structure and to place new bolts. During that process, the roof began to crumble and a limited amount of debris came down, she further noted.
Although it remains unclear at this point whether the maintenance operations triggered the landslide, CFL has already launched an enquiry to determine the cause of the incident. At the time, only one worker was inside of the structure, but they made it out without a scratch.
Safety is CFL's number one priority, stressed Nonnweiler: "This includes the safety of tunnels, which we regularly check in an ongoing process. We have a number of tunnels that we maintain, on the Luxembourg-Gouvy line in particular, but also elsewhere. We work with experts to conduct controls and maintenance when needed, as we did in this case."
The 236-metre-long Schieburg tunnel, originally built in 1863, remains closed until further notice. Busses will now come into use so that people can still travel between Ettelbruck and Gouvy.
