Linking France and Italy
The Mont Blanc Tunnel: at the heart of Haute-Savoie, linking France and Italy
The 11.6 km of the Mont Blanc Tunnel have connected the Chamonix valley in Haute-Savoie with the Aosta valley in Italy since 1965. It was built by the companies ATMB (Mont Blanc Tunnel and Motorways) and the Italian Mont Blanc Tunnel Company (SITMB). The works lasted almost twenty years.
Today, it takes around a quarter of an hour to travel through the tunnel. At the beginning of the century, it took 3 days walking to cross the Mont Blanc massif. Following the fire in 1999, 380 million Euros have been invested to completely rebuild the tunnel, making it a world reference in terms of safety.
The Mont Blanc Tunnel EEIG: a French-Italian sole operator
Since its reopening in 2002, the tunnel has been manager by a European Economic Interest Group (EEIG-TMB). It employs 245 people for 11.6km of tunnel. Their missions: to ensure an optimal level of safety and service 24h/24. The EEIG-TMB acts on behalf of ATMB and SITMB who have a contract with the French and Italian States. This establishes the respective obligations of the two companies and the States (in terms of increasing prices, investments to be made, level of service to guarantee…).
Composition and responsibilities of the Mont Blanc Tunnel EEIG
Traffic, 67% of which is light vehicles
The tunnel is mainly used by light vehicles, representing 69% of traffic.
_Heavy goods vehicles registered a decrease of 27% between 1998 and 2010.