To remain competitive on the international market, the national rail company, SBB, wants to introduce new, high-speed trains to connect Swiss and foreign cities.
To achieve this ambitious goal, the SBB is planning to buy or lease up to 40 super-fast trains, spending an estimated 1 billion francs for this project.
Can Swiss trains travel on international routes?
Currently, no.
But under the terms of bilateral agreements that Switzerland concluded with the European Union in December, foreign transport companies can offer cross-border connections to Switzerland and the SBB will be able to do the same.
What’s the plan?
The SBB wants to reach lucrative tourist destinations such as Rome, Barcelona, and even the planned route to London, more quickly and efficiently than by relying on foreign rail companies.
“Overall, the SBB “wants to offer better connections abroad,” according to Véronique Stephan, Director of Passenger Traffic at SBB.
However, to be on the right track — both literally and figuratively — the SBB will have to overcome some challenges, many of which are not within Switzerland’s power.
One such problem is that the tracks must be shared by regional and freight lines and are therefore already at full capacity, so launching new routes would require a serious re-organisation of existing rail traffic.
Also, other nations must repair and upgrade their rail networks, Stephan said.
“We need better infrastructure in surrounding countries,” she pointed out.
For instance, the SBB would like to have better connections from Zurich to Munich.
“But the current infrastructure [in Germany] does not allow us to travel faster or more frequently on this route,” according to Stephan.
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What’s the next step?
Train manufacturers have until mid-May to present their offers to the SBB.
The contract is scheduled to go out to tender in 2026.
