Last weekend, Swiss voters rejected a plan to invest in road infrastructure, partly due to the CHF 4.9 billion price tag. This week, Switzerland’s federal parliament learned the CHF 16.4 billion budgeted for rail infrastructure expansion between now and 2035 could reach more than CHF 30 billion, reported SRF.
The cost overrun was first reported by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and later confirmed by the Federal Office of Transport (FOT). CHF 8.5 billion of the surprise cost relates to new projects such as station conversions, new tracks and parking facilities. The remaining CHF 5.5 billion is a cost overrun related to already planned projects such as the Brütten Tunnel between Zurich and Winterthur.
How, or even if, these additional cost will be funded is unclear. The numbers come from Swiss Rail and the FOT and are now being checked by people outside the sector. Negotiations and political haggling have yet to begin but could be contentious.
News of these cost overruns comes at a difficult time. The federal government is looking for savings to balance the books, which have been in the red for a number of years. In addition, voters are sensitive to spending money on infrastructure. On 24 November 2024, a government plan to spend CHF 4.9 billion expanding road infrastructure was rejected by voters. Spending an extra CHF 14 billion on rail infrastructure is unlikely to sit well with the electorate, especially given that it is on top ot the billions Swiss Rail already receives out of the public purse every year – public sector funding was CHF 3.15 billion in 2023.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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