SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has started work on a major capacity improvement programme between Genève and Lausanne. Announcing the launch of the SFr3bn ‘Léman 2030’ project at a ceremony in Renens station on November 22, SBB said that traffic on the route along the shore of Lac Léman is expected to double to 100 000 trips a day by 2030.
Work entails laying a fourth track between Renens and Lausanne, platform lengthening for 400 m long trains, and capacity enhancements at Lausanne, Renens and Genève Cornavin, where the project dovetails with the CEVA cross-city link now under construction. The start of work marks the culmination of five years of planning since a preliminary funding agreement was signed with the Vaud and Genève cantons in December 2009; most of the money will be provided by the federal government under the Finanzierung und Ausbau der Bahninfrastruktur strategy approved by referendum in February 2014.
Less than a week later the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund submitted plans to the federal government for a further stage in the Zürich S-Bahn expansion programme. This too is intended to absorb a forecast rise in traffic by 2030 with the introduction of inner-suburban and express outer-suburban S-Bahn services. Among major projects required to achieve this is construction of the Brüttener tunnel between the Glatt valley and Winterthur. This could be up to 10 km long, depending on the choice of alignment.
