Railways invests heavily in future trains
The Swiss Federal Railways is investing SFr2.1 billion ($1.8 billion) in new double-deck trains in the largest rolling stock tender offer of its history.
The company announced on Monday that the tender was for 59 trains that would come into service from 2013 and work on InterCity and InterRegio routes.
It is investing a total of about SFr20 billion in new trains and updating existing rolling stock by the year 2030.
In a statement, the company said the 59 new trains would replace older stock. They would enable the existing fleet to be strengthened and increase “urgent” capacity needs.
Since the introduction of a denser Swiss rail timetable at the end of 2004, passenger numbers have increased by 30 per cent and the train offer by 26 per cent.
The Federal Railways is now forecasting that demand will increase by 50 per cent by 2030. It says it may even double in the Lake Geneva and Zurich regions.
swissinfo with agencies
More
What Trump’s return or a new Harris administration would mean for Switzerland
More
Documentary portrays Swiss teenagers forced to return to parents’ homeland
More
Gold-digging: why some Swiss bury their wealth in the garden
More
Love at new heights: Swiss hiker creates ‘Tinder for the mountains’
More
Davos entourages will face 10-fold price increase next year
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.