In a move intended to increase the reliability of train service between Stuttgart and Zurich, national rail company SBB has organised a replacement service for tardy German trains running on Switzerland’s territory.
The tardiness of Germany’s trains is notorious, vexing its more punctuality-minded Swiss counterparts.
Several times in the past years, the SBB had to take measures to mitigate the impact of chronically late Deutsche Bahn (DB) trains operating on the Swiss network.
In 2024, for instance, only about 64 percent of DB’s long-distance passenger trains reached their destination on time; in Switzerland, the equivalent figure was 93.2 percent.
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That is why the SBB instituted a policy of terminating DB trains that arrive in Basel more than 20 minutes behind schedule and transferring passengers onto Swiss trains waiting at the border.
Among the chronically late arrivals are DB’s EuroCity service from Hamburg to Interlaken Ost, as well as the train from Dortmund to Zurich — both of which are no longer allowed to operate within Switzerland.
And now there is one more ‘problem’ train
The DB’s InterCity (IC) trains on the Stuttgart-Zurich route have also proven unreliable.
Therefore, starting on July 7th, the SBB and Deutsche Bahn are jointly running a replacement service on the Swiss section of the route, between Schaffhausen and Zurich.
This train will be used if the incoming IC from Stuttgart is significantly delayed.
These replacement trains will be driven by locomotive crews from both Switzerland and Germany.
Over the next few weeks, the SBB and DB will monitor the situation and decide whether these measures are sufficient to guarantee punctuality.
