It carries twin standard gauge (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) tracks electrified at 15 kV AC 16 2/3 Hz using overhead catenary.

[1][2] The tunnel was opened in 1856 to complete the Schweizerische Nordostbahn (NOB) line from Zürich Hauptbahnhof to Winterthur via Wallisellen, which had opened from Oerlikon to Winterthur the previous year.

The footprint of the older embankment route is today occupied by Röntgenstrasse.

[1][3] As built, the tunnel was 959 metres (3,146 ft) long, with a southern portal close to the Rosengartenstrasse.

In the 1990s, the tunnel was extended to the south, by covering the existing railway cutting, so that the new southern portal was immediately to the north of Wipkingen station.