A new report by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung has revealed Swiss Federal Railways' (SBB) long-term plan for the network. While the main public transport provider in Switzerland has promised to increase the number of trains serving most cities and cantons, many have criticised the newly revised “2035 Service Concept” for cutting some services and forcing international rail providers like TGV Lyria and Deutsche Bahn to terminate their trains at the border.

Swiss government and SBB revise long-term plan for the railways

According to the report, given to 20 Minuten, the government are in discussions with SBB over their expansion plans for the next 12 years. Officials from the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) recently met with the company to revise their long and short-term plans, mainly because of the expected cuts to SBB funding, the delay of key construction projects and the mixed reaction to the firm's new timetable for 2023 / 2024.

By 2040, SBB estimates that 2 million workers, families and tourists will use the network every single day - around 50 percent more than SBB's passenger numbers in 2022. Therefore, their newly revised plan will offer “attractive connections, punctual trains and affordable tickets”, according to the company’s website.

Frequent services but slower trains: SBB's plan for 2035

From 2035, instead of every hour, almost all Intercity and Interregional services will run every half hour. On high-demand routes, such as on the St. Gallen - Zurich - Olten - Bern - Lausanne axis, fast trains will run every 15 minutes, effectively quadrupling the number of high-speed trains on some routes.

However, the expansion will come with compromises. Under the plans, SBB is set to abandon speeding up connections between the major cities in favour of slower trains running more frequently. SBB no longer want to purchase tilting trains - essential to high-speed journeys, especially on older routes and those in the mountains - and will phase out existing trains of this type.

20 Minuten also warned that some Swiss cities will be better catered to than others. While Zurich and St. Gallen will see more connections to other parts of the country, under the revised plan direct trains between Lucerne and Geneva and Basel and Ticino will be scrapped in order to cope with the higher frequency of trains.

Deutsche Bahn and TGV services stopped at border

Finally, contrary to the government’s wish to expand international rail travel, 20 Minuten revealed that under current plans proposed by the FOT, trains run by Deutsche Bahn (DB) and TGV would have to stop at the Swiss border. While the details are yet to be confirmed, the plan would effectively mean that all ICE services would have to terminate at either Basel or St. Gallen, while French services would likely be stopped at Geneva or Basel - direct trains would not run between Zurich, France and Germany.

While TGV services from Zurich to Paris have been seen as a largely delay-free success, FOT director Peter Füglistaler explained that the policy mainly has to do with delays at Deutsche Bahn - the company responsible for the most delayed services in Switzerland during the last timetable period and 2022 as a whole. "International trains with an integrated cycle pose a high risk of delays," he added, explaining that to avoid delays across the whole network, DB and TGV Lyria will have to operate outside SBB’s timetable.

Plan opposed by local authorities in Switzerland

While praised by some, the plan in its current state has not gone down well with local authorities or activists, with the Public Transport Interest Group calling it the “biggest deterioration in the timetable” seen since the beginning of SBB. A statement from Canton Graubünden added that "despite investments worth billions, the quality [of railways] on offer throughout Switzerland falls below the level of the first stage of Bahn 2000” - SBB’s plan for the 21st century.

In response, the FOT said that the 2035 strategy is still being revised and developed. Spokesperson Michael Müller explained that the “deterioration” of services is necessary, as it is the only way for the network to repair, upgrade and expand effectively in the further future.

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