Cisalpino reaches the end of the line
The Cisalpino rail service, the plagued Swiss-Italian joint venture, will no longer run from the end of 2014, Swiss Federal Railways has said.
The company made the announcement during the unveiling of its travel plan for 2012.
Federal Railways boss Andreas Meyer told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted “to put an end to this horror”. The problems with the Cisalpino, or ETR-470, had halved since the company had taken over maintenance but it had not been possible to bring the four trains up to Swiss standards.
“I don’t want to see pictures like those in Ambri a few days ago,” added Meyer, referring to the Cisalpino from Milan that caught fire in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.
The trains will therefore be taken out of commission by the end of 2014. It is not possible beforehand due to lack of replacement rolling stock. Until then SFr12 million ($14 million) will be invested to keep the trains running.
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