Railways’ new timetable gets smooth launch
The Swiss Federal Railways’ new timetable, the biggest revamp in recent times, has gone into service without a hitch and only a few late trains.
The first train pulled out of Bern station shortly after four am, carrying a large number of railway buffs.
The head of the federal railways, Benedikt Weibel, said on Sunday he was relieved that the launch of new timetable, part of the Rail 2000 programme, had gone ahead smoothly. Around 90 per cent of train departure times have been modified.
Hundreds of railway employees had been standing by to deal with any problems that may have cropped up.
Weibel warned however that the railways faced a bigger challenge on Monday, when commuters head to work, and on Tuesday, when freight traffic picks up.
Potential problems
The railways expect some problems on regional lines where there is only one track. Commuters will also have less time to switch trains at some stations.
Weibel said that there are around 100 incidents every day on the rail network. “Most of them are caused by external factors or happen because of infrastructure problems,” he added.
Some trains were late on Sunday morning, but the railways said that the delays were not related to the introduction of the new timetable.
According to the head of the railways, the likelihood of an incident happening has increased along with number of trains running on the network. Weibel says his biggest fear is a breakdown between of the company’s showcase track between Mattstetten, north of Bern, and Rothrist near Olten.
Trains are running at speeds of 160 kilometres per hour on this 45- kilometre section. Weibel says an incident is likely to happen some time in the future.
Regional improvements
Ceremonies marked the launch of new national timetable on Saturday in central Switzerland, just hours before it became effective. Cantons Glarus, Lucerne and Zug are among the first to benefit from the revamping of the railways’ operations.
Swiss president Joseph Deiss inaugurated the new Glarus Sprinter with Weibel on Saturday. The new express train will link the canton with Zurich.
Glarus is the last cantonal capital to benefit from a high-speed connection to the rest of the country, a hurdle the local authorities have been trying to overcome for years.
The railways have also upgraded their services around Lucerne and Zug. Regional trains are to run more frequently, putting the suburbs and areas lying further away within easier reach.
Nine stations have also been built in the Zug area, while four more have been put into service in and around Lucerne.
swissinfo with agencies
As of Sunday, there are 12% more trains running on the rail network.
Travelling times on more than half long-distance journeys have been reduced by at least five minutes.
35% of these journeys have their running times reduced by at least 15 minutes.
Total investment in Rail 2000 amounts to SFr5.9 billion ($4.93 billion).
Swiss transport policy aims to transfer freight traffic off the roads and motorways onto the railways.
Apart from the construction of two new Alpine base tunnels, a package of improvement includes connection to the European high-speed network and the Rail 2000 concept.
Public transport companies in Switzerland move about 1.7 billion people annually.
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