List of spiral tunnels and tunnels on a curved alignment

Lists of spiral (helicoidal) tunnels and tunnels on a curved alignment on railway lines worldwide.

A part of a line is bracketed (), if it is located in a country other than that mentioned in the specific table:

Example: :(Lausanne – Montreux – Sierre – Visp – Brig – ) → Switzerland

Africa

South Africa

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Ladysmith–Harrismith	Van Reenen's Pass	Tunnel 4	Spiral	approx 1175		adhesion	1,067	South African Railways	Construction started 1957. Put into service 12 June 1961. 28°22′01″S 29°25′50″E / 28.367°S 29.43049°E / -28.367; 29.43049

Americas

United States

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
None	Stevens Pass	Martin Creek Tunnel	Spiral	about 300	22		1,435	Great Northern Railway	Built by 1893, Retired in 1929 by the opening of the new Cascade Tunnel. 47°43′26″N 121°12′01″W / 47.723822°N 121.200340°W / 47.723822; -121.200340

Canada

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Western Section of The CPR	Kicking Horse Pass	Big Hill	Spiral	two of 900	22	Adhesion	1,435	Canadian Pacific

Asia

Russia

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Baikal-Amur Mainline, Novy Uoyan – Taksimo	Severomuysky Diversion, Osypnoy – Pereval	Tunnel no. 1	Horseshoe	2,142			1,520	East Siberian Railway	Built in 1989; after the completion of Severomuysky Tunnel in 2006 serve as a reserve route.^[1] 56°14′N 113°26′E / 56.23°N 113.43°E / 56.23; 113.43
Baikal-Amur Mainline, Novy Uoyan – Taksimo	Severomuysky Diversion, Goryachiy Klyuch – Okusikan	Tunnel no. 2	Curved alignment	752			1,520	East Siberian Railway

Europe

Croatia

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Zagreb - Rijeka	Rijeka	Brajdica	Spiral	1,873	21	Adhesion	1,435	HŽ	Nearly a 360° loop entirely in tunnel.

France

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Cuneo to Nice	42.619 km south of Cuneo	Tunnel de Branego	Turn	1,272		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF
Cuneo to Nice	47.890 km south of Cuneo	Tunnel de Cagnolina	Spiral	1,476		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF
Cuneo to Nice	54.091 km south of Cuneo	Tunnel be Bosseglia	Turn	1,583		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF
Cuneo to Nice	57.439 km south of Cuneo	Tunnel de Rioro 1 & 2	Spiral	1,828		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF
Cuneo to Nice	59.575 km south of Cuneo	Tunnel de Biogna	Turn	1,155		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF
Cuneo to Nice	59.853 km south of Cuneo	Tunnel Porcarezzo	Turn	1,251		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF
Cuneo to Nice	65.817 km south of Cuneo	Berghe	Spiral	1,881		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF
Toulouse to Barcelona	2 km north-east of l'Hospitalet	Tunnel Helicoïdal de Saillens	Spiral	1,752		Adhesion	1,435	SNCF

Germany

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Offenburg - Singen		Niederwasser Tunnel ^[2]	Curved alignment	558	17-19	Adhesion	1,435	DB
Offenburg - Singen	Triberg	Grosser Triberg Tunnel ^[2]	Curved alignment	835	17-19	Adhesion	1,435	DB
Wutach Valley Railway		Grosser Stockhalde Tunnel ^[3]	Spiral	1,700		Adhesion	1,435	DB
Wutach Valley Railway		Kehrtunnel im Weiler ^[3]	Curved alignment	1,205		Adhesion	1,435	DB

Italy

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
(Lausanne – Montreux – Sierre – Visp – Brig – ) Iselle – Domodossola	Iselle, Varzo	Varzo	Spiral	2,968	22	Adhesion	1,435	SBB CFF FFS	Simplon Line (probably the longest curved alignment tunnel in the world)
(Locarno – Intragna – ) Camedo – Domodossola	Trontano	Pelcetino	Loop/Curved alignment	196	60	Adhesion	1,000	(FART), SSIF
(Metropolitana di Napoli) Line 1	Napoli		Spiral		55	Adhesion	1,435	Metronapoli	metro/subway line
Ferrovia Nulvi-Tempio-Palau (Italian)	Nulvi – Tempio – Palau (Sardinia)	Galleria elicoidale di Bortigiadas	Curved alignment			Adhesion	950	Trenino Verde	Tourist service only
Torino - San Giuseppe di Cairo - Savona	Savona	Santuario	Curved alignment	2063	30~	Adhesion	1,435	FS	makes a complete loop with some open air sections and other two shorter tunnels
Cuneo to Nice	24.119 km south of Cuneo	Galleria hélicoidoïl di Vernante	Spiral	1502m		Adhesion	1,435	FS & SNCF	details of this route continue under 'France' above.
Roccasecca - Avezzano	Capistrello	Capistrello-La Giorgia	S-shaped	2750	?	Adhesion	1,435	FS

Russia

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Armavir – Tuapse	Gorny – Indyuk	Bolshoy Petlevoy	Curved alignment	1,015			1,520	North Caucasus Railway	Three tunnels on a single loop, built in 1914, reconstructed in 2006.^[4] 44°15′41″N 39°14′54″E / 44.2615°N 39.248306°E / 44.2615; 39.248306
		Maly Petlevoy	Curved alignment	169
		Sredniy Petlevoy	Curved alignment	356

Switzerland

The turn tunnels in the following table are sorted from West to East according to the location of the start point of the line.

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Bex – Bretaye	Fontannaz-Seulaz	Fontannaz-Seulaz	Loop/Curved alignment	182	195	Rack	1,000	TPC (BVB)
Martigny – Châtelard( – Vallorcine – Chamonix)	Salvan	Charbons	Loop/Curved alignment	419	200	Rack	1,000	MC
Zermatt – Gornergrat	Riffelalp	Landtunnel	Loop/Curved alignment	174	200	Rack	1,000	GGB
Montreux – Zweisimmen	Montreux	Montreux	Loop/Curved alignment	184	65	Adhesion	1,000	MOB
Montreux – Zweisimmen	Chamby	Chamby	Loop/Curved alignment	314	67	Adhesion	1,000	MOB
Aigle – Leysin-Grand Hotel	Leysin-Feydey	Leysin	Loop/Curved alignment	233	223	Rack	1,000	TPC (AL)
Aigle – Les Diablerets	Aigle	Grand-Hôtel	Loop/Curved alignment	119	60	Adhesion	1,000	TPC (ASD)
Montreux – Rochers de Naye	Glion	Valmont	Loop/Curved alignment	385	130	Rack	800	MVR (MTGN)
Montreux – Rochers de Naye	Caux	Tremblex	Loop/Curved alignment	144	220	Rack	800	MVR (MTGN)
Montreux – Rochers de Naye	Dent de Jaman	Jaman	Loop/Curved alignment	77	220	Rack	800	MVR (MTGN)
Vevey – Les Pléiades	Vevey	Gilamont	Loop/Curved alignment	84	50	Adhesion	1,000	MVR (CEV)
Brig – Spiez	Kandergrund	–	Loop/Curved alignment	1,655	27	Adhesion	1,435	BLS	Lötschbergbahn
Zermatt – Visp – Brig – Andermatt – Disentis	Grengiols	Grengiols I	Spiral	502	96	Rack	1,000	MGB	Glacier-Express
Zermatt – Visp – Brig – Andermatt – Disentis	Andermatt	Butzen	Loop/Curved alignment	169	110	Rack	1,000	MGB	Glacier-Express
Zermatt – Visp – Brig – Andermatt – Disentis	Andermatt	Biel	Loop/Curved alignment	279	110	Rack	1,000	Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn	Glacier-Express
Zermatt – Visp – Brig – Andermatt – Disentis	Andermatt	Rufenen	Loop/Curved alignment	255	110	Rack	1,000	Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn	Glacier-Express
Kleine Scheidegg – Jungfraujoch	Eiger, Mönch	Jungfrau	Loop/Curved alignment	7,122	250	Rack	1,000	JB	The curved alignment is only part of the tunnel.
Grindelwald – Kleine Scheidegg – Lauterbrunnen	Wengen	–	Loop/Curved alignment	248	180	Rack	800	WAB
Wilderswil – Schynige Platte		Rotenegg	Loop/Curved alignment	168	250	Rack	800	SPB
Lauterbrunnen – Isenfluh	Isenfluh	Chuchischleif	Loop/Curved alignment	1200	360	Tires	800	Road tunnel
Brienz – Rothorn Kulm	Planalp	Schonegg II	Loop/Curved alignment	119	250	Rack	800	BRB
Luzern – Göschenen – Airolo – Bellinzona – Chiasso	Gurtnellen	Pfaffensprung	Spiral	1,476	26	Adhesion	1,435	SBB CFF FFS	Gotthardbahn
Luzern – Göschenen – Airolo – Bellinzona – Chiasso	Wassen	Wattingen	Loop/Curved alignment	1,084	26	Adhesion	1’435	SBB CFF FFS	Gotthardbahn
Luzern – Göschenen – Airolo – Bellinzona – Chiasso	Wassen	Leggistein	Loop/Curved alignment	1,090	26	Adhesion	1,435	SBB CFF FFS	Gotthardbahn
Luzern – Göschenen – Airolo – Bellinzona – Chiasso	Prato	Freggio	Spiral	1,568	27	Adhesion	1,435	SBB CFF FFS	Gotthardbahn
Luzern – Göschenen – Airolo – Bellinzona – Chiasso	Prato	Prato	Spiral	1'560	28	Adhesion	1,435	SBB CFF FFS	Gotthardbahn
Luzern – Göschenen – Airolo – Bellinzona – Chiasso	Giornico	Pianotondo	Spiral	1,508	26	Adhesion	1,435	SBB CFF FFS	Gotthardbahn
Luzern – Göschenen – Airolo – Bellinzona – Chiasso	Giornico	Travi	Spiral	1,547	27	Adhesion	1,435	SBB CFF FFS	Gotthardbahn
Chur – Thusis – Tiefencastel – Filisur – Samedan – St. Moritz	Filisur	Greifenstein	Spiral	698	35	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Albula Railway Glacier-Express
Chur – Thusis – Tiefencastel – Filisur – Samedan – St. Moritz	Bergün	God	Loop/Curved alignment	486	35	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Albula Railway Glacier-Express
Chur – Thusis – Tiefencastel – Filisur – Samedan – St. Moritz	Bergün	Platz	Loop/Curved alignment	262	35	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Albula Railway Glacier-Express
Chur – Thusis – Tiefencastel – Filisur – Samedan – St. Moritz	Preda	Rugnux	Spiral	662	35	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Albula Railway Glacier-Express
Chur – Thusis – Tiefencastel – Filisur – Samedan – St. Moritz	Preda	Toua	Spiral	677	35	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Albula Railway Glacier-Express
Chur – Thusis – Tiefencastel – Filisur – Samedan – St. Moritz	Preda	Zoundra	Spiral	535	35	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Albula Railway Glacier-Express
St. Moritz – Pontresina – Poschiavo( – Tirano)	Alp Grüm	Palü	Loop/Curved alignment	254	70	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Bernina Railway Bernina-Express
St. Moritz – Pontresina – Poschiavo( – Tirano)	Alp Grüm	Val Pila	Loop/Curved alignment	227	70	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Bernina Railway Bernina-Express
St. Moritz – Pontresina – Poschiavo( – Tirano)	Poschiavo	Val Varuna I (Oberer Varuna)	Loop/Curved alignment	149	70	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Bernina Railway Bernina-Express
St. Moritz – Pontresina – Poschiavo( – Tirano)	Poschiavo	Val Varuna I (Unterer Varuna)	Loop/Curved alignment	147	70	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Bernina Railway Bernina-Express
St. Moritz – Pontresina – Poschiavo( – Tirano)	Poschiavo	Balbalera	Loop/Curved alignment	122	70	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Bernina Railway Bernina-Express
Landquart – Klosters – Davos	Klosters	Klosters	Loop/Curved alignment	399	45	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	Replaced 1930 the zig zag in Klosters.
Landquart – Klosters – Davos	Klosters	Cavadürli	Loop/Curved alignment	334	45	Adhesion	1,000	RhB
Klosters - Sagliains	Klosters	Zugwald	Loop/Curved alignment	2172	~40	Adhesion	1,000	RhB	On the ramp to the Vereina Tunnel.

Slovakia

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Margecany – Červená Skala	Telgárt	Tunnel Telgárt ^[5]	Curved alignment	1,240	12.5	Adhesion	1,435	ZSSK

United Kingdom

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
Woodhead Line	South Yorkshire	Thurgoland Tunnel	Curved alignment	282	8	Adhesion	1,435	British Rail (was LNER)	1845-1983

Oceania

New Zealand

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
North Island Main Trunk	Raurimu	Raurimu Spiral	Spiral	383	19	Adhesion	1,067	New Zealand Railways Corporation

Australia

Line	Location	Tunnel Name	Kind of Tunnel	Length in m	Gradient in ‰	Kind of Operation	Gauge in mm	Railway Company	Remarks
North Coast Railway	Cougal	Cougal Spiral	Spiral	200	15	Adhesion	1,435	Railcorp	Also known as 'Border Loop'

References

↑ Обход Северомуйского тоннеля (in Russian). Веб-энциклопедия Транссиба. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
1 2 Tunnels of the Black Forest Railway(www.nvog.de/bswb.de (in German language) )
1 2 Map of the Wutach Valley Railway
↑ Большой петлевой тоннель (in Russian). "Bamtonnelstroy" JSC. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
↑ Telgártska sľučka - (in Slovak language)

Hans G. Wägli: Schienennetz Schweiz/Réseau ferré suisse; Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, Generalsekretariat; 1980; ISBN 3-905111-21-7 (Edition 1998)

Locations partly from:

Bundesamt für Landestopografie, Landeskarte der Schweiz, Zusammensetzung 101, Thuner See Zentralschweiz, 1:100'000, 1987
Office fédéral de topographie, Carte nationale de la Suisse, Assemblage 104, Lausanne-Bern, 1:100'000, 1986
Office fédéral de topographie, Carte nationale de la Suisse, Assemblage 105, Valais∙Wallis, 1:100'000, 1987
Bundesamt für Landestopografie, Landeskarte der Schweiz, Zusammensetzung 106, Glarnerland Bündnerland, 1:100'000, 1985
Ufficio federale di topografia, Carta nazionale della Svizzera, Carte riunite 107, Ticino∙Tessin, 1:100'000, 1987

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