Renzo Simoni steps down as Head of AlpTransit Gotthard AG
On December 9, 2016, the Swiss Federal Council appointed Renzo Simoni, CEO of the AlpTransit Gotthard AG (ATG), to represent the state in the governing board of the partially privatised Swisscom telecommunications company. At the end of June 2017 Renzo Simoni will vacate his role of heading the ATG after a more than ten-year long tenure. The governing board has already adopted measures to arrange for a successor.
Renzo Simoni, who graduated as a civil engineer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), has chaired the ATG board since April 2007. The ATG has been responsible for building the Gotthard artery passing through the Alps together with the Gotthard and Ceneri Base Tunnels. Set up in 1998, today the SBB subsidiary employs a workforce of around 150 at its headquarters in Lucerne and its field offices in Altdorf, Sedrun and Bellinzona.
Under Simoni’s guidance the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) was completely excavated, furnished and tested. From 2007 to early 2016, the Ceneri Base Tunnel was also completely driven by means of drill+blast. On June 1, 2016, the GBT was ceremoniously declared open. The AlpTransit Gotthard officially handed over the tunnel to the SBB on the same day. Regular train services have been passing through the GBT since December 11.
ATG governing board chairman Werner Marti thanked Renzo Simoni: “for his great and invaluable contribution. Under his leadership, we’ve been able to look back on a thoroughly successful period in the history of this work of the century”.
