A multi-chassis network device (120) includes a plurality of nodes (128A-D) that operate as a single device within the network and a switch fabric (125A-D) that forwards data plane packets between the plurality of nodes (128A-D). The switch fabric (125A-D) includes a set of multiplexed optical interconnects coupling the nodes (128A-D). For example, a multi-chassis router (120) includes a plurality of routing nodes (128A-D) that operate as a single router within a network and a switch fabric (125A-D) that forwards packets between the plurality of routing nodes (128A-D). The switch fabric (125A-D) includes at least one multiplexed optical interconnect coupling the routing nodes (128A-D). The nodes (128A-D) of the multi-chassis router (120) may direct portions of the optical signal over the multiplexed optical interconnect to different each other using wave-division multiplexing.