Swiss Federal Railways says profits increased in 2007 despite heavy losses in its cargo division.

Total revenue rose by 5.6 per cent to SFr7.674 billion ($7.57 billion). The company beat previous records for number of passengers and volume of goods transported, annual figures released on Wednesday show.

Last year Federal Railways carried a record 306.7 million passengers compared with 285.1 million in 2006.

The state-owned company reported a 69 per cent drop in net profit to SFr80.4 million and an operating loss of SFr87.9 million in the Cargo division. The company said cargo was "a sector that had to be improved in the long-term".

Cargo activity incurred a loss of SFr180 million compared with a SFr30 million loss in 2006, even though there was an 8.3 per cent rise in the volume of cargo transported over the previous year.

Workers at a cargo locomotive depot in southern Switzerland have been on strike for nearly five weeks after the freight unit announced plans to axe around 400 jobs following losses in 2007.

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