One Million Trips and Counting — Zürich's Bike Tunnel Is Quietly Transforming the City
Opened just under a year ago, the cycle tunnel beneath the main station has already embedded itself in daily Zürich life.
A tunnel that spent decades sitting unused beneath Zürich's main station, originally built for a motorway that never came, has now clocked one million bicycle journeys since opening last May. The milestone, reached in under a year, suggests the city's CHF 38.6 million bet on cycling infrastructure has landed well with residents.
On an average day, around 3,000 cyclists pass through the tunnel connecting Kreise 4 and 5 beneath the Hauptbahnhof. On peak days that figure has exceeded 5,500. Usage dropped off over winter, as expected, and has been climbing again since spring. The tunnel also serves two underground bike parking facilities with a combined capacity of 2,700 spaces.
The infrastructure has not been entirely without incident. One injury was recorded when an intoxicated cyclist rode into a wall, and there have been isolated reports of cars entering the tunnel — though the city says the overwhelming majority of users respect the cycle-only signage.
The tunnel's backstory adds a certain irony to its success. It was originally constructed in the late 1980s in anticipation of a car tunnel that was ultimately scrapped after significant public opposition. The idea of converting it into a cycling route came from Pro Velo in 2011, took a decade to reach a referendum, and was approved in 2021 with 74 percent of the vote. What was designed to carry cars now moves more than a million bike journeys a year — and the city says demand is still growing.
