All Switzerland articles – Page 13
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NewsLogistics bodies urge action after Rastatt ‘disaster’
EUROPE: ‘The European system of rail logistics is about to collapse’, warned more than 20 trade bodies on September 4 in an open letter to European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc and German Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt. The letter was copied to seven other transport ministers and Josef Doppelbauer, Executive ...
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NewsBLS bids to take over Simplon car shuttle
SWITZERLAND: BLS has applied to the Valais canton to take over the car-carrier shuttle service between Brig and Iselle currently run by Swiss Federal Railways, which is not seeking to renew its concession when it expires in December. If its application succeeds, BLS would operate the service from the December ...
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NewsBern station expansion gets underway
SWITZERLAND: A long-discussed project to expand the main station in Bern was officially launched on July 3, following completion of the planning approval process on June 26. The Zukunft Bahnhof Bern project is intended to provide much-needed capacity increases in several areas, as both the SBB through station and the ...
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NewsFirst Giruno runs through the Gotthard Base Tunnel
SWITZERLAND: A Stadler EC250 Giruno trainset ran through the Gotthard Base Tunnel for the first time during testing on July 2. The manufacturer said that the test run at a maximum speed of 100 km/h had been a 'complete success', demonstrating that the design meets the standards required to operate ...
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NewsSüdostbahn plans automatic train operation
SWITZERLAND: A pilot project to develop automatic train operation was unveiled by Südostbahn AG on June 15. The ultimate intention is to achieve Grade of Automation 3, full automatic train operation with no driver but retaining staff on board for customer service and to take control when necessary. SOB has ...
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NewsSNCF Logistics’ investment in BLS Cargo approved
SWITZERLAND: SNCF Logistics’ planned acquisition of a 45% stake in BLS Cargo will come into effect at the beginning of July, BLS AG said on June 14. This follows Swiss and German regulatory approval for the planned acquisition, which had been announced by the companies on February 16. From July ...
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NewsStadler receives ‘record-breaking’ orders in a successful year
SWITZERLAND: Stadler says its expansion into new geographical markets and industry sectors paid off in 2016, when it received a ‘record-breaking’ number of orders with a total value of SFr4·9bn, more than double the 2015 figure. Turnover and profit were ‘in line with the long-term average’, the company said on ...
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NewsHupac orders eight multisystem locomotives
SWITZERLAND: Intermodal freight company Hupac has ordered eight Siemens Vectron MS electric locomotives for use on freight services between the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy via the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Announcing the contract on June 1, Siemens said deliveries from its München-Allach plant would begin in early summer of ...
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News250 km/h low-floor trainset for the Gotthard Base Tunnel rolled out
SWITZERLAND: President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard joined 500 guests at the official roll-out of the first compete EC250 Giruno 250 km/h inter-city trainset at Stadler’s Bussnang plant on May 18. ‘The Giruno sets a new standard, just like Switzerland did with the Gotthard Base Tunnel’, said Leuthard ‘This ...
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NewsBLS selects Stadler for its largest rolling stock order
SWITZERLAND: BLS has selected Stadler for the largest rolling stock order it has placed, a SFr650m contract covering the supply of 58 single-deck electric multiple-units in 2021-26. The order includes 30 EMUs for RegioExpress services and 28 for S-Bahn Bern routes. The 105 m long six-car 160 km/h Flirt units ...
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NewsSBB wants better co-operation with road transport
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways and national road transport association Astag have joined forces to demand a more effective freight transport policy at national level and better co-operation between road and rail. At a press conference on April 7 in Basel at which both organisations pledged support for the planned Gateway ...
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NewsSBB launches Gotthard Panorama Express
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways staged a preview trip for its seasonal Gotthard Panorama Express on April 8. Combining a 2 h 45 min cruise on a steamship on the Vierwaldstättersee with a rail journey over the famous Gotthard pass, the service is intended to stimulate tourist travel over the historic ...
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NewsStadler proposes move from Altenrhein to St Margrethen
SWITZERLAND: Rolling stock manufacturer Stadler confirmed on April 4 that it was evaluating options to replace its Altenrhein site with a new plant at nearby St Margrethen. The new facility would be optimised for the production of Kiss double-deck vehicles, unlike the current leased facility at Altenrhein, which Stadler said ...
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NewsSBB orders 14 EMUs for RER Vaud
SWITZERLAND: A SFr125m contract for Stadler Rail to supply 14 four-car Flirt electric multiple-units for use on the RER Vaud network centred on Lausanne was signed by Swiss Federal Railways on March 24. The EMUs are scheduled to be delivered by 2020. They will be 75 m long with 324 ...
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NewsLéman Express moves closer
EUROPE: During a ‘summit’ between the two railways held in Paris on March 9, SBB CEO Andreas Meyer and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy signed a co-operation agreement for the operation from December 2019 of the Léman Express network of cross-border regional and suburban services centred on Genève. Under the agreement, ...
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NewsNo holes in the plan as Swiss cheese reaches China by rail
INTERNATIONAL: Raclette cheese, fondue cheese, milk chocolate and prepared milk have been delivered in what operator Far East Land Bridge said was the first ever shipment of Swiss dairy products to China by rail. The goods travelled by rail from Duisburg in Germany to Chongqing in China via the Trans-Siberian ...
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NewsLong-distance concession talks break down
SWITZERLAND: Negotiations for a national jointly operated long-distance passenger traffic concession with services run by SBB, BLS and SOB collapsed on February 16. Discussions had been underway since autumn last year for the ‘multi-railway’ proposal. SBB issued a statement regretting the failure of the talks and noted that BLS had ...
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NewsSNCF buys 45% stake in BLS Cargo
SWITZERLAND: BLS has agreed to sell a 45% stake in its freight subsidiary BLS Cargo to SNCF Logistics, the French national railway’s freight business. The deal announced on February 16 is subject to regulatory approval. BLS would remain the majority shareholder with a 52% stake, and Ambrogio Group would retain ...
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NewsBerner Oberland-Bahn EMU enters service
SWITZERLAND: The first of six Stadler ABDeh 8/8 electric multiple-units ordered by Berner Oberland-Bahn entered revenue service on the metre-gauge route between Interlaken Ost, Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald on February 13. This followed a ceremony on February 10 during which a depot at Zweilütschinen was formally opened and the first of ...
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NewsSBB Cargo adopts new financing model for locomotive order
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways’ freight business said it was ‘entering into new forms of financing’ when it announced an order for 18 Siemens Vectron multi-system electric locomotives on January 30. SBB Cargo International has opted to order the locomotives through LokRoll, a leasing company set up by family-owned investment group ...