In October, Swiss national railways (SBB) announced the launch, in April 2026, of a night train connecting Basel with the Swedish city of Malmö, and had even started to sell tickets for this route. This move, however, was premature.
The SBB’s ambitious plan for the 1,400-km-long route, which would stop at five German and five Danish cities between Basel and Malmö, is now scuppered.
From the beginning, the project depended on the financial support from the federal government, which planned to contribute approximately 47 million francs (50 million Euros) by 2030 toward the train – subject to the parliamentary approval.
On December 9th, however, MPs from the National Council have – following a similar move by the Council of States – voted to withdraw 10 million francs (10.6 million Euros) from the federal budget earmarked for this purpose.
Without this money, operating the train on this line would not be economically viable for the SBB, prompting the company to cancel the plan.
‘Unacceptable’ expenditure
The narrow majority of MPs who voted against the project argued that this train is not a “strategic priority” for Switzerland and it is therefore “unacceptable that taxpayers would pay for it through their taxes.”
“This would amount to throwing public money down the drain to finance a service from which Switzerland will derive virtually no tangible benefit,” said deputy Yvan Pahud from the Swiss People’s Party.
His colleague, Didier Calame, went even further in his criticism of the planned train.
“Don’t you think that spending 10 million francs to go to Sweden to see the beautiful blondes is a lot of money for the taxpayer?” he asked.
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‘Incomprehensible and irresponsible’
Supporters of the planned line were swift to criticise the parliament’s withdrawal of funds.
Among them, the Transport and Environment Association (ATE), pointed out that night trains play a key role in international transport, as they offer a ‘greener’ alternative to short- and medium-haul flights, which are major sources of harmful CO2 emissions.
Another organisation, actif-trafiC, which promotes environmental policies for public transport, called the Parliament’s decision “completely incomprehensible and irresponsible” in light of the climate crisis.
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What will happen next?
With no federal funding, the plans for the new train are now derailed.
However, actif-trafiC said it will begin collecting signatures in the spring for its “initiative for efficient public transport”, which aims to guarantee government funding for cross-border rail services and affordable tickets.
In the meantime, the SBB continues to offer a number of international destinations from Swiss cities:
If you have already purchased tickets for the Basel-to-Malmö train, you can ask the SBB to have them refunded.
