Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has been named one of the best public transport providers in Europe. However, despite achieving high scores across most of the categories, the railway provider was pipped to first place by Trenitalia. Here’s why:

Which railway companies are the best in Europe?

It’s often said that, as the densest and one of the most reliable networks in the world, Switzerland’s rail system is in a class of its own. Thanks to a new ranking from the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), this high praise is (mostly) confirmed.

To create the ranking, T&E - an advocacy group for clean transport and energy - ranked 27 rail operators across Europe through eight major categories:

• Cost of public transport tickets
• Special fares and reductions
• Reliability
• Booking experience 
• Compensation policy
• Comfort / Traveller experience
• Night trains
• Cycling policy

The different criteria were weighted according to how important passengers consider each one to be, with ticket prices contributing 25 percent to the final score and night train development and cycling policies counting only 5 percent each. Each company was given a score out of 10 in each category, alongside a final collective ranking.

T&E argued that in order to achieve the continent's climate goals, governments across Europe need to invest in rail to improve its reliability and make tickets cheaper to coax more people away from driving.

SBB named Europe's second-best rail provider

In the report, SBB was named the second-best railway company in Europe with a total score of 7,4, alongside Czech firm RegioJet and behind the Italian rail provider Trenitalia (7,7). Trenitalia was given a perfect score for the number of special fares and discounts on offer, and was given high praise for passenger comfort and night train offerings.

So why is the oft-hailed SBB in second place? Starting with the positives, the federal provider was deemed to be the best in Europe for the quality of the booking experience and reliability - not surprising, given that 92,5 percent of SBB trains ran on time in 2023, while 98,7 percent of passengers made their onward connections. Similarly high scores were given for comfort, ticket prices (interestingly) and special fares.

However, it is on those few occasions when your train is delayed or cancelled in Switzerland that SBB loses points, with the company given a joint-second worst score of 5. With an hour-long delay only warranting a 25 percent refund, and a two-hour wait only granting a 50 percent discount, SBB has a long way to go to compete with the front-runners - British companies Avanti West Coast and GWR offer partial refunds after just a 15-minute delay.

Though Switzerland has its fair share of night train services, most of these are run by non-Swiss companies. With SBB having recently pulled out of night trains between Zurich and Barcelona, and shelving plans to connect Swiss cities and Italy with an evening service, this is unlikely to change in the short time.

SBB a far cry from Europe's worst train companies

However, when compared to the worst companies on the list, SBB’s foibles seem like a small aside. For 2024, Eurostar was rated as the worst provider thanks to sky-high ticket prices, an absence of night trains and cycling options and poor reliability and compensation policies. 

In terms of other companies that operate in Switzerland, Austrian provider ÖBB took fourth thanks to its excellent night train and passenger experience ratings, while French firm SNCF placed fifth for its relatively cheap ticket prices. The oft-criticised behemoth to the north, Deutsche Bahn took 16th, mainly due to poor reliability and night train ratings.

10 best rail providers in Europe

In all, here are the top 10 rail providers in Europe, according to T&E:

• 1. Trenitalia, Italy (7,7)
• =2. SBB, Switzerland (7,4)
• =2. RegioJet, Czechia (7,4)
• 4. ÖBB, Austria (7,1)
• 5. SNCF, France (6,6)
• 6. ČD, Czechia (6,5)
• =7. Renfe, Spain (6,4)
• =7. Italo, Italy (6,4)
• =7. VR, Finland (6,4)
• 10. SJ, Sweden 

To see how other European rail providers ranked, check out the T&E website.

Thumb image credit: NGCHIYUI / Shutterstock.com