On 9 December 2007, the LBT was declared operational. Initially, only regular freight services traversed the LBT, along with a minority of international and InterCity passenger trains (without stops between Spiez and Brig); passenger trains continued to operate on the old timetable (the travel time between Spiez and Brig was considered to be 56 minutes until December 2007, even if actual travel time through the LBT was only about 30 minutes). Since February 2008, the LBT has been routinely used for normal InterCity routes. Travel time between Visp and Spiez is about 28 minutes, of which 16 minutes is spent inside the LBT.