Editing NRLA (section)

== {{anchor|Political background}}Political background ==
[[Image:GBT MFS Faido TV-WS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=See caption|Three-way junction under construction in the [[Gotthard Base Tunnel]] in 2006]]
During late-1980s and early-1990s negotiations with the [[European Economic Community]] (the predecessor of the [[European Union|EU]]), Switzerland demanded a limitation on transalpine truck traffic. When the EEC refused, Swiss negotiators instead proposed a heavy-vehicle fee (HVF), a kilometre-based tax on freight vehicles, for all lorries above 3.5 [[tonne]]s<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.alptransit-portal.ch/en/overview/politics/events/ereignis/agreement-with-europe//?no_cache=1 |title=Agreement with Europe |date=2 May 1992 |publisher=Federal Swiss Archives FSA, Federal Office of Transport FOT |location=Berne, Switzerland |work=AlpTransit Portal |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref> and offered to build a high-speed rail link through the Alps for [[intermodal freight transport]].

Swiss voters approved the rail link in a 27 September 1992 [[mandatory referendum]].<ref name=NRLA>{{cite web |url=https://www.alptransit-portal.ch/en/overview/politics/events/ereignis/yes-to-the-nrla//?no_cache=1 |title=Yes to the NRLA |date=27 September 1992 |publisher=Federal Swiss Archives FSA, Federal Office of Transport FOT |location=Berne, Switzerland |work=AlpTransit Portal |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref> The EU accepted the Swiss offer in 2000, but requested that the extant 28-tonne weight limit for [[lorries]] be raised to 48 tonnes. The parties eventually compromised on a 40-tonne weight limit. The bilateral Land Transport Agreement with the European Union was signed, agreeing to an increase of the kilometer-based tax (HVF; {{langx|de|LSVA}}, {{langx|fr|RPLP}}, {{langx|it|TTPCP}}) on [[Heavy Goods Vehicle|HGV]]s from 1.6&nbsp;ct/tkm to 1.8&nbsp;ct/tkm when the NRLA was completed. The condition was deemed fulfilled at the completion of the first track of the [[Lötschberg Base Tunnel]] in 2007.<ref name=EUA>{{cite web |url=https://www.alptransit-portal.ch/en/overview/politics/events/ereignis/the-end-of-the-28-tonne-limit//?no_cache=1 |title=The end of the 28-tonne limit |date=21 May 2000 |publisher=Federal Swiss Archives FSA, Federal Office of Transport FOT |location=Berne, Switzerland |work=AlpTransit Portal |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref>

Other relevant Swiss legislation includes the 1994 [[Alps initiative]], which prohibits road-building in the Alps and encourages the transport of as many transalpine goods as possible by rail rather than road, and the 1998 Traffic Transfer Act, which sets an ideal maximum number of trucks crossing the Alps by road. Meeting this goal requires a fully functional NRLA rail link.<ref name=AI>{{cite web |url=https://www.alptransit-portal.ch/en/overview/politics/events/ereignis/yes-to-the-alps-initiative//?no_cache=1 |title=Yes to the Alps Initiative |date=24 February 1994 |publisher=Federal Swiss Archives FSA, Federal Office of Transport FOT |location=Berne, Switzerland |work=AlpTransit Portal |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref>

The original plans for the NRLA were to construct only one main base tunnel, but regional disputes prevented a choice between the two options and threatened to jeopardize the entire project. The [[Swiss Federal Council]] therefore decided in 1995 to build two base tunnels (Gotthard and Lötschberg) simultaneously.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.alptransit-portal.ch/en/overview/politics/events/ereignis/green-light-for-the-network-option//?no_cache=1 |title=Green light for the network option |date=20 February 1995 |publisher=Federal Swiss Archives FSA, Federal Office of Transport FOT  |location=Berne, Switzerland |work=AlpTransit Portal |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref>

In 1998, the total projected cost of the NRLA project was CHF&nbsp;12.189&nbsp;billion; in December 2015, the final cost was projected to be CHF&nbsp;17.900&nbsp;billion. The projected cost of its centerpiece, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, was CHF&nbsp;6.323&nbsp; billion in 1998; in December 2015, the tunnel's cost was an estimated CHF&nbsp;9.560&nbsp;billion. The 1998 cost of the Lötschberg axis was an estimated CHF&nbsp;3.214&nbsp;billion; in December 2015, it was an estimated CHF&nbsp;4.237&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.alptransit-portal.ch/en/overview/politics/events/ereignis/transport-policy-as-financial-policy//?no_cache=1 |title=Transport policy as financial policy |date=29 May 1995 |publisher=Federal Swiss Archives FSA, Federal Office of Transport FOT |location=Berne, Switzerland |work=AlpTransit Portal |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref><ref name=NeatKosten/>

Swiss voters approved the NRLA project on 27 September 1992, with 63.6% support.<ref name=NRLA/>

Two years later on 20 February 1994, the Swiss populace unexpectedly also accepted with 51.9% support the Alps protecting initiative, a [[popular initiative (Switzerland)|federal popular initiative]] initiated by just a few private citizens. This was despite neither the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]] nor the [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|two parliamentary chambers]] endorsing the initiative, and their not even considering providing a counterproposal to the populace.<ref name=AI/>

Another mandatory referendum was held on 19 November 1998 about the creation of funds for four major public-transport projects ({{langx|de|FinöV-Fonds}}, {{langx|fr|Fonds FTP}}, {{langx|it|Fondo FTP}}), funding them with time-limited CHF&nbsp;30&nbsp;billion fund of which the NRLA would receive 13.6&nbsp;billion. Another major project was the [[Bahn 2000]] project regarding the modernization of the railways. The Federal Council's request was approved with 63.5% support.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.alptransit-portal.ch/en/overview/politics/events/ereignis/yes-to-public-transport-funding//?no_cache=1 |title=Yes to public transport funding |date=29 November 1998 |publisher=Federal Swiss Archives FSA, Federal Office of Transport FOT |location=Berne, Switzerland |work=AlpTransit Portal |access-date=2017-07-01}}</ref> The fund is replenished primarily by the previously mentioned kilometre-based tax on heavy-goods vehicles (HVF) and partially by taxes on [[gasoline]] originally intended for road-building, a small fraction of the [[VAT]] revenues, and funds from the general budget of the Swiss Confederation.

The bilateral agreements with the EU containing the 40-tonne limit and the implementation of the HVF were finally accepted by the Swiss populace on 21 May 2000 with 67.2% support in a federal [[optional referendum]] initiated by opposing political parties.<ref name=EUA/>