Switzerland’s most important north–south artery ground to a halt over the Easter weekend as holiday traffic produced a record-breaking 21-kilometre queue at the Gotthard road-tunnel north portal. Between the early hours of Good Friday (3 April 2026) and Saturday morning, waiting times for motorists heading toward Italy reached three hours and 30 minutes, according to the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS). By midday Friday, the Federal Roads Office (ASTRA) and cantonal police activated their “Staumanagement Uri” contingency plan, closing several ramps and diverting heavy vehicles to holding areas. The Gotthard corridor carries some 17,000 vehicles a day in peak season and is the preferred route for expatriates, cross-border workers and tourists driving between northern Europe and Italy. This year’s jam was exacerbated by mild spring weather, school holidays in Germany and France, and airlines’ rerouting of flights away from Middle-East airspace, which pushed additional holidaymakers onto the road network.
![Easter Getaway Chaos: Gotthard Tunnel Traffic Jam Peaks at 21 km, Disrupting Cross-Border Travel]()
Holidaymakers heading through Switzerland and on to Italy may also need to make sure their travel documents are in order before setting off. VisaHQ can simplify the process of checking requirements and securing the appropriate Schengen visa online, saving valuable time when traffic conditions are unpredictable. Travellers can start an application, track its progress and arrange courier services entirely through the site at https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/
Authorities repeatedly urged travellers to switch to the A13 San-Bernardino route, the Simplon Pass or the Lötschberg car-train service, but alternative corridors also experienced bottlenecks as navigation apps rerouted tens of thousands of vehicles simultaneously. The disruption had knock-on effects for international rail and freight. SBB Cargo reported delays of up to 90 minutes for intermodal trains because lorry drivers stuck in traffic missed scheduled loading slots in Chiasso and Lugano. Cross-border coaches linking Zurich and Milan were forced to detour via the Great-St-Bernard tunnel, adding two hours to their schedules and triggering compensation claims from tour operators. Logistics firms warned that just-in-time deliveries to northern Italian factories could be jeopardised if return traffic on Easter Monday proves equally severe. Long-term relief is on the horizon: the second Gotthard road-tunnel tube, currently under construction, is due to open to traffic in 2030 and will allow alternating maintenance closures that preserve two lanes in each direction year-round. Environmental groups, however, argue that additional capacity will simply attract more cars and advocate shifting holiday traffic to rail. In the interim, ASTRA is investing CHF 80 million in dynamic lane-use signs, smart-traffic lights and expanded rest-area parking to manage peak surges. For mobility managers, the Easter chaos underscores the importance of multimodal contingency planning. Companies with time-critical shipments to Italy should consider rail freight block bookings during holiday peaks, while corporate travel teams may wish to advise assignees to fly into Milan or Verona and continue by train when heading south. Real-time traffic data from TCS and the Swiss Federal Navigation Centre can be integrated into travel-approval platforms to trigger automatic alerts when queues exceed set thresholds.
Holidaymakers heading through Switzerland and on to Italy may also need to make sure their travel documents are in order before setting off. VisaHQ can simplify the process of checking requirements and securing the appropriate Schengen visa online, saving valuable time when traffic conditions are unpredictable. Travellers can start an application, track its progress and arrange courier services entirely through the site at https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/
Authorities repeatedly urged travellers to switch to the A13 San-Bernardino route, the Simplon Pass or the Lötschberg car-train service, but alternative corridors also experienced bottlenecks as navigation apps rerouted tens of thousands of vehicles simultaneously. The disruption had knock-on effects for international rail and freight. SBB Cargo reported delays of up to 90 minutes for intermodal trains because lorry drivers stuck in traffic missed scheduled loading slots in Chiasso and Lugano. Cross-border coaches linking Zurich and Milan were forced to detour via the Great-St-Bernard tunnel, adding two hours to their schedules and triggering compensation claims from tour operators. Logistics firms warned that just-in-time deliveries to northern Italian factories could be jeopardised if return traffic on Easter Monday proves equally severe. Long-term relief is on the horizon: the second Gotthard road-tunnel tube, currently under construction, is due to open to traffic in 2030 and will allow alternating maintenance closures that preserve two lanes in each direction year-round. Environmental groups, however, argue that additional capacity will simply attract more cars and advocate shifting holiday traffic to rail. In the interim, ASTRA is investing CHF 80 million in dynamic lane-use signs, smart-traffic lights and expanded rest-area parking to manage peak surges. For mobility managers, the Easter chaos underscores the importance of multimodal contingency planning. Companies with time-critical shipments to Italy should consider rail freight block bookings during holiday peaks, while corporate travel teams may wish to advise assignees to fly into Milan or Verona and continue by train when heading south. Real-time traffic data from TCS and the Swiss Federal Navigation Centre can be integrated into travel-approval platforms to trigger automatic alerts when queues exceed set thresholds.
