Rail transport in Switzerland is noteworthy for the density of its network,[13][14] its coordination between services, its integration with other modes of transport, timeliness[15][16] and a thriving domestic and trans-Alp freight system. It is made necessary by strong regulations on truck transport,[17] and is enabled by properly coordinated intermodal logistics.[18]
With 5,200 kilometres (3,200mi) network length, Switzerland has a dense railway network,[19] and is the clear European leader in kilometres traveled: 2,505km (1,557mi) per inhabitant and year (2019).[20] Worldwide, only the Japanese travel more by train.
Virtually 100% of its network is electrified, except for the few tracks on which steam locomotives operate for tourism purposes only. There are 74 railway companies in Switzerland. The share of commuters who travel to work using public transport (as the primary mode of transport) is 30%. The share of rail in goods transport performance by road and rail (modal split) is 39%.[1]
Switzerland was ranked first among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for its intensity of use, quality of service and strong safety rating.[21] Switzerland had excellent intensity of use, notably driven by passenger traffic, a good rating for quality of service, and an excellent rating for safety. Switzerland captured high value in return for public investment with cost to performance ratios that outperform the average ratio for all European countries.[22]
Three quarters of the Swiss rail network is at standard-gauge, comprising 3,773km (2,344.4mi), administered mostly by three companies. Important railway stations are the Zürich HB (398,300 passengers per day in 2023), Bern (175,400 ppd), Luzern (99,400 ppd), Winterthur (99,100 ppd), Basel SBB (98,600 ppd), Lausanne (96,700 ppd), Zürich Oerlikon (82,200 ppd), and Geneva (79,500 ppd).[25] The main operators of the standard gauge railway lines are Swiss Federal Railways (SBBCFFFFS), BLS, and Südostbahn (SOB). Other standard gauge operators are CJ, SZU, TPF and TransN.
Swiss Federal Railways (German: SBB, French: CFF, Italian: FFS) is the largest railway company in Switzerland and handles most of national and international traffic. It operates the central east–west track in the Swiss Plateau area serving all larger Swiss cities and many smaller ones, and the north–south routes through the Alps via the Gotthard Line through the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Milano-Chiasso-Lugano-Luzern/Zurich-Basel line) and the Simplon Tunnel (Domodossola to Brig-Lausanne-Geneva line).[8] It operates most long-distance services, including EuroCity (EC), InterCity (IC, domestic only), InterRegio (IR) and RegioExpress (RE) services. SBB and its subsidiaries (e.g. Thurbo, RegionAlps) also runs many Regio (R) and S-Bahn (S) lines. Its subidiary SBB GmbH operates regional trains serving stations in Germany, including two lines located entirely in Germany, near the border with Switzerland. SBB Cargo handels freight operations.
Although Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein all use the same voltage as Switzerland, dedicated types of locomotives are necessary due to Switzerland using narrower pantographs.
There are a few railway lines crossing the France–Switzerland border, the most-frequented ones being the Lyon–Geneva railway and the Strasbourg–Basel railway lines. TGV Lyria, a joint-venture between SBB and the French SNCF, operates high-speed trains from Paris or southern France to Genève-Cornavin and Lausanne or Basel SBB and Zurich HB. Some RegioExpress (RE) trains of SBB also connect with stations in France. The Léman Express is a commuter rail system linking Geneva with stations in Switzerland and France. Some cross-border regional trains services are provided by TER.
Rail transport to Liechtenstein is provided by Vorarlberg S-Bahn, operated by ÖBB.[28] There are also bus links between Swiss railway stations and Liechtenstein.[29]
There are also EuroNight (EN) services between Switzerland and other European countries.[30][31] The Austrian ÖBB operates Nightjet (NJ) trains between Swiss and Austrian and German destinations.[31]
The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB), lit.'MatterhornGotthard Railway', was founded in 2003 through the merger of the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) with the Brig–Zermatt Bahn (BVZ; BVZ means Brig–Visp–Zermatt).[3] The former Furka Oberalp Bahn was a metre-gauge railway in the high southern Alps. Its name refers to two passes, the Furka Pass and the Oberalp Pass. The Furka Pass lies at the upper end of the Rhône valley. The Oberalp Pass is the highest point on this line at 2,033m (6,670ft) above sea level, and lies at the upper end of the Rhine valley. The line runs from Disentis/Mustér to Brig. At Andermatt, the line connects with the former Schöllenenbahn to Göschenen on the standard gauge Gotthard Railway of Swiss Federal Railways. Brig in the canton of Valais is a rail junction with standard gauge lines of Swiss Federal Railways and BLS. It sits at the north end of the Simplon Tunnel on the Milan–Lausanne line and Milan–Bern line. The total length of the FO railway was 100km (62mi). The former Brig–Zermatt Bahn was a short line between Brig and Zermatt. It passes through the valleys of the Vispa and Matter Vispa, tributaries of the Rhône. The total length of the BVZ line was 43km (27mi).
The Glacier Express (GEX), a Panorama Express (PE), runs on the combined route, using lines of RhB and MGB (St. Moritz - Filisur - Chur - Disentis/Mustér - Andermatt - Brig - Visp - Zermatt). A one-day trip in panoramic-view cars takes tourists from St. Moritz to Zermatt, or vice versa, through some of the most spectacular scenery of the Alps. It is the longest long-distance train service in Switzerland. The journey from Zermatt to St. Moritz takes about 8 hours.
Narrow-gauge lines are renowned for their scenic views (here the WAB between Lauterbrunnen and Wengen)
The Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB) is a 24km (15mi) long line from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. It begins at Interlaken Ost and divides at Zweilütschinen, about 10km (6.2mi) south of Interlaken. The western branch leads to Lauterbrunnen, while the eastern branch leads to Grindelwald. It is possible to make a loop by taking the Lauterbrunnen branch and returning via the Grindelwald branch. The two branches are connected by the Wengernalp Bahn.
The Wengernalpbahn (WAB) is a 19km (12mi) long line between the villages of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, leading over the Eiger ridge at the Kleine Scheidegg junction station at Kleine Scheidegg. In the winter, this junction is a ski resort served by many lifts and trails, as well as the rail line. Skiers can ride the train from the valleys below to return to the top of the runs.
The Jungfraubahn (JB), which is also rack-and-pinion throughout, starts at Kleine Scheidegg and runs 9km (5.6mi) through tunnels in the Eiger and Mönch, leading to the "Jungfraujoch", a saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau summits. At the saddle are a visitor centre and an observatory. The Aletsch Glacier, largest in Europe, runs to the south toward the Rhône valley.
The Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren (BLM) is 6km (3.7mi) long, divided into two independent parts, the first part being a cable car (which runs above the old funicular railway, which was replaced in 2006), the second an adhesion railway.
The Gornergrat Bahn climbs for 9km (5.6mi) from an elevation of 1,600m (5,200ft) near Zermatt station of the Zermatt RR to a 3,000m (9,800ft) high top station on the shoulder of the Monte Rosa Mountain. The entire route is a rack-and-pinion railway.
There are trams operating on nine systems in seven Swiss cities. Street-running tramways are nearly all 1,000mm (3ft3+3⁄8in). The Chemin de fer Bex–Villars–Bretaye (BVB) in Bex is more of a mixed interuban light rail line connected to a rack railway but it does have some street running portions, particularly in Bex where the BVB operates along the right of way of a tramway system originally built in the 1890s. Also the Trogenerbahn operated by Appenzell Railways (AB) operates on streets in the city of St. Gallen as well as the Frauenfeld–Wil-Bahn (FWB) in the city of Frauenfeld the Forchbahn in the city of Zurich and the Chur–Arosa-Bahn in the city of Chur.
The commuter rail networks of Zurich, Basel, St. Gallen, Geneva, Schaffhausen and Ticino provide also cross-border transportation services into Austria, Germany, France and Italy, respectively. The Austrian Vorarlberg S-Bahn operates services with Swiss border stations as their terminus, with one service operating through Liechtenstein. The Italian Milan S Lines includes a service operating until the Swiss border station of Chiasso. Bodensee S-Bahn groups several S-Bahn services around Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
Services on the Swiss railway network are integrated with each other and with other modes of public transport, such as local railways, buses, boats/ferries and cable transports, often either in direct proximity or short walking distance, to minimise transfer times. Unlike its European neighbours, Switzerland has not developed a comprehensive high-speed rail network,[33] with the running speed on high-speed lines, the Rothrist–Mattstetten line and Gotthard Base Tunnel, being 200km/h (120mph) and 230km/h (140mph), respectively.[34] Instead the priority is not so much the speeding up of trains between cities, but the reduction of connection times through the nodal system.[35] Journey times on main lines between hubs are multiples of 15 minutes so that on the hour or half-hour all trains stand in the nodal stations at the same time, thus minimising connection times. Indeed, the above-mentioned Rothrist–Mattstetten line reduces journey times from Bern to Zurich HB from 72 minutes to 57 minutes,[36]:29 in keeping with the clock-face scheduling.
SBB Clock and main timetable display at Zürich HB. Note the national and international departures after 16:30 and 17:00
Rail timetables are integrated[36]:36 with the extensive[36]:18 network of postal buses (branded as PostBus, French: CarPostal, German: PostAuto, Italian: AutoPostale), which serve both plain and high mountain villages, as well as with many other Swiss bus companies. For example, on postal bus line 12.381[37] the 10:35 from the mountain village of Les Haudères is planned to arrive in the regional city of Sion at 11:20 where a train departs the station (located next to the bus station) at 11:24 for Visp. Indeed, it is a familiar sight to for the postal cars to be already lined up outside the station for the arriving train. From this perspective, the Swiss rail network functions as the core of a wider public transport network.
Other modes of transport concerned by the integrated timetable are:
About 600 railway stations feature park and ride, known as P+Rail[38] in Switzerland, which allows commuting partly by private and partly by public transport. Mobility is a cooperative for car sharing. Mobility cars are available at many railway stations.
Some trains feature an area (indicated either near or on the doors), or even an entire railroad car (e.g. trains on the Altstätten–Gais railway line), for transportation of bicycles.[39] Most railway stations have a bicycle parking[40] and/or bicycle parking station.[41] Some railway stations also offer bicycle washing and repair services.[42]
Although public investment is positively correlated with a given railway system's performance, the European Railway Performance Index finds differences in the value that countries receive in return for their public cost. The 2017 Index found Switzerland captures high value for money relative to the average ratio of performance to cost among European countries.[43]
Passenger transport
In 2012, the total costs for passenger transport on Swiss railway network was CHF8.88 billion, of which CHF4.46 billion (50%) were due to infrastructure costs, CHF3.98 billion (45%) were costs of transportation means, CHF427 million due to environmental and health costs, and CHF25 million due to accidents.[44]
CHF4.28 billion, or 48.2%, were paid by passengers, and CHF4.15 billion (or 47%) came from rail subsidies provided by federal, cantonal, and municipal contributions. CHF426 million (or 4.8%) were contributed by the common weal (accident and health insurances, environmental funds etc.).[44]
Freight transport
In 2012, the total costs for freight transport on Swiss railway network was CHF2.063 billion, of which CHF779 million (37.8%) were due to infrastructure costs, CHF900 million (43.6%) were costs of transportation means, CHF59 million due to environmental and health costs, and CHF325 million (15.8%) due to accidents.[44]
CHF1.058 billion, or 51.3%, were paid by customers, and CHF122 million (5.9%) by transporting companies, while CHF555 million (26.9%) were subsidised by federal, cantonal, and municipal contributions. CHF328 millions (15.9%) were contributed by the common weal (accident and health insurances, environmental funds etc.).[44]
The construction and operation of Swiss railways during the 19th century was carried out by private railways. The first internal line (known as the Spanisch Brötli Bahn) was a 16km (9.9mi) line opened from Zürich to Baden in 1847, operated by the Swiss Northern Railway. By 1860 railways connected western and northeastern Switzerland but the Alps remained an insurmountable barrier for railways, which need low gradients. The first trans-alpine railway and north–south axis in Switzerland finally opened in 1882. It was the Gotthard Railway, with at its heart the Gotthard Tunnel, passing well below the Gotthard Pass. A second line was opened even lower under the Simplon Pass in 1906 (the Simplon Railway), and a third under the Lötschberg in 1913 (the Lötschberg Railway).
In 1901 the major railways were nationalised to form Swiss Federal Railways. During the first half of the 20th century they were electrified and slowly upgraded. After the Second World War rail rapidly lost its share of the rail market to road transport as car ownership rose and more roads were built. From 1970 the Federal Government has become more involved in upgrading the railways, especially in urban areas and on trunk routes under the Rail 2000 project. In addition, two major trans-alpine routes—the Gotthard Railway and the Lötschberg approach to the Simplon—were rebuilt under the NRLA project. As a consequence, two new flat routes through the Alps opened in the early 21st century: The Lötschberg Base Tunnel in 2007 and the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016.
Switzerland has a dense network of roads and railways. The Swiss public transport network has a total length of 24,500 kilometres and has more than 2600 stations and stops.
The Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon-Bahn (BLS), known between 1997 and 2006 as the BLS Lötschbergbahn, was a Swiss railway company. In 2006 the company merged with Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG to form a new company called BLS AG.
Swiss Federal Railways is the national railway company of Switzerland.
Lucerne railway station is a major hub of the rail network of Switzerland, in the city of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne. It is a terminal station serving domestic and international traffic on several rail lines, and is situated in a city centre and waterfront location on the south side of Lake Lucerne.
The Südostbahn – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Swiss railway company, and a 1,435 mmstandard gauge network in Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the original SOB with the Bodensee–Toggenburg railway (BT) at the end of 2001.
The Bözberg railway line is a railway line in Switzerland, running between Basel and Brugg via Pratteln, Rheinfelden, Stein-Säckingen, Frick and the Bözberg Tunnel. At Brugg it connects to Zürich via Baden and to the Gotthard Railway via the Aargauische Südbahn.
The Jura–Simplon Railways (JS), was a railway company that was formed in 1890. It was nationalised in 1903 as the largest railway company in Switzerland and integrated into the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).
Rail 2000 is a large-scale project of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) established in 1987 to improve the quality of the Swiss rail network for the New millennium. It includes measures to accelerate a number of existing connections and the modernisation of rolling stock. The federal government decision to support the project in 1986 was approved by a referendum in 1987. In 2004 the first phase was completed consisting of around 130 projects with a budget of around CHF 5.9 billion.
The construction and operation of Swiss railways during the 19th century was carried out by private railways. The first internal line was a 16 km line opened from Zürich to Baden in 1847. By 1860 railways connected western and northeastern Switzerland. The first Alpine railway to be opened was under the Gotthard Pass in 1882. A second alpine line was opened under the Simplon Pass in 1906.
Arth-Goldau railway station is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Schwyz and municipality of Arth. The station is located in the centre of the village of Goldau, which forms part of Arth.
Visp railway station is a junction station at Visp, in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It has a modern station building completed in 2007, and is served by two standard gauge lines and a metre gauge line.
Brig railway station is an important railway junction in the municipality of Brig-Glis, in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. Opened in 1878, it is adjacent to the northern portal of the Simplon Tunnel and is served by two standard gauge lines. Another two metre gauge lines serve the physically adjacent Brig Bahnhofplatz railway station.
Biel/Bienne railway station serves the bilingual municipality of Biel/Bienne, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland.
Ziegelbrücke railway station is a junction station in the village of Ziegelbrücke in Switzerland. Whilst the village is shared between the municipality of Glarus Nord, in the canton of Glarus, and the municipality of Schänis, in the canton of St. Gallen, the station is located in the Gemarkung of Schänis, where it is the larger of two railway stations.
Schaffhausen railway station is a railway station in Schaffhausen, the capital of the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen. The station is jointly owned by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) and Deutsche Bahn (DB), and is served by trains of both national operators, as well as trains of the Swiss regional operator Thurbo.
The Simplon Railway is a line that links Lausanne in Switzerland and Domodossola in Italy, via Brig. The 20 km (12 mi)-long Simplon Tunnel is a major part of it. The line between Lausanne and Vallorbe is sometimes considered to form part of the line, making it 233 km (145 mi) long.
The Bern–Thun railway line is a double-tracked, electrified railway line that runs through the Aare valley in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Lötschberg-Simplon axis between Germany and Italy. It was opened in 1859 by the Swiss Central Railway.
The Bernese Jura Railway was a railway company in Switzerland. The company was called the Jura–Bern–Luzern from 1 July 1884. The Jura–Bern–Lucerne merged with the Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways to form the Jura–Simplon Railway (Jura-Simplon-Bahn), JS) on 1 January 1890.
The Wil–Ebnat-Kappel railway is a single-track standard-gauge line that runs through the Toggenburg region of Switzerland. It was built by the Toggenburgerbahn. Its 25 kilometre-long, standard gauge line from Wil via Wattwil to Ebnat-Kappel was opened on 24 June 1870. The TB was nationalised as of 1 July 1902 and became part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).
1 2 3 4 5 6 "2014 Rapport de gestion"(PDF) (Annual Report) (in French). Montreux (VD), Switzerland: Compagnie du Chemin de fer Montreux - Oberland bernois SA. 2015. p.4. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
1 2 3 4 "Die SOB in Zahlen" (in German). St. Gallen, Switzerland: Schweizerische Südostbahn AG. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
↑ "Bahn S4/S10" (in German). Zurich, Switzerland: Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn SZU AG. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
1 2 3 4 "2014 Rapport de gestion"(PDF) (Annual Report) (in French). Montreux (VD), Switzerland: Transports Montreux - Vevey - Riviera SA. 2015. p.3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
↑ "UIC country codes, Leaflet 920-14"(XLS or XML) (in German, French, and English). Paris, France: International Union of Railways. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
1 2 3 Lydia Alonso Martínez. Learning From Swiss Transport Policy(PDF) (Dissertation). Barcelona, Spain: UPC Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
