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Faster connections to Lugano and Munich, premieres of BLS and Südostbahn: this year there are major changes to the rail network.
Through the mountain: the Ceneri base tunnel shortens travel times in Ticino and provides faster connections in the southern canton.
Photo: Alessandro Crinari (Keystone)
New tunnel: faster to Lugano
The most important innovation for rail traffic in Switzerland relates to north-south traffic. Then Eröffnung des Ceneri-Basistunnels Trains will now go through the tunnel as scheduled in September. Even if the planned grand opening falls into the water: The progress made in relation to Ticino is enormous. The Zurich – Lugano route can now be done in less than two hours. The Ceneri base tunnel is even more important for public transport in Ticino. This should bring Lugano, Bellinzona and Locarno closer together. More connections to Milan are also planned. But these are Corona’s victims first. With the commissioning of the Ceneri tunnel, the Neat (New Railway-Alpine Transversal) is ready, which will mainly benefit freight traffic.
New trains: faster to Munich
The Germans are not the fastest when it comes to expanding the railways. After three years of construction, the Zurich – Munich route is finally fully electrified. Now SBB can use new Astoro trains here. This reduces travel time from 45 minutes to just four hours. Furthermore, twice as many trains now run between Germany and Switzerland. Probably next year the route should be doable in around 3 hours 30 minutes. This will be achieved by automating train control systems when crossing national borders.
It almost seems as if you are waiting for your new destination in Germany: an Astoro train.
Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand (Keystone)
New routes: go ahead with the BLS
One major change is that BLS is now running the Olten to Bern route via Burgdorf. This innovation was received years of fighting ahead. The BLS wanted to get into long-distance traffic, the SBB resisted: they wanted to maintain their lucrative monopoly. But the federal government wanted to open it, so a compromise was reached: SBB kept the concession for all long-distance traffic, but BLS manages some routes on its own. This is beneficial to customers. not the expected and promised added value. The most obvious change: you now drive on BLS rolling stock instead of SBB. Because the BLS did not receive all the desired routes, the promised services were reduced. Contrary to what was initially thought, there is no customer service.
New railway operators: with the SOB on the Gotthard
SBB has not just abandoned routes on the central plateau. There is also something new in the Gotthard. The Südostbahn (SOB) now runs there. Stadler copper colored Traverso trains are used. For the SOB, that is, parallel to the BLS, the entry into long-distance transport. The railway operator talks about 200 jobs that it will create thanks to the new connections. The SOB was already able to achieve a success before the start of the so-called Treno Gottardo. The route was chosen by The English Guardian as one of the top six new train routes in 2021. In the article it says: “In fact, it is a wonderful railway line”. In fairness, it should be mentioned that the route from Zurich to Munich was also included in the list. SOB trains run alternately every hour from Basel via Olten and Lucerne and from Zurich via Zug to the south.
The new Gottardo Treno of the Südostbahn.
Photo: Alexandra Jaeggi
More travel in many regions
There are changes in all regions of Switzerland, whether in long-distance traffic or regional traffic. There are new connections from Zurich to Chur with more seating capacity, more seats on the route from Lucerne via Zug to Zurich, and thanks to the new Eppenberg tunnel, the Mittelland should benefit from more and better connections between Olten and Aarau. A full description of all changes can be found on the SBB website.
Bonus: the train conductors are back
It is not really new and should be taken for granted. But: As of December 13, all routes in German-speaking Switzerland that had been canceled due to a lack of train conductors should be operational again. The SBB had long had a problem with a driver shortage. There have now been training delays due to Corona, as noted by SBB. As a result, the pressure was apparently so great that the SBB connections failed. To the chagrin of affected customers and their representatives in parliament.
