Federal Railways reports sharp rise in profits

Swiss Federal Railways has reported a nearly 27 per cent rise in profits for the first half of 2009 but said its cargo unit suffered losses.

Federal Railways said on Thursday that profits increased by 26.8 per cent to SFr132.8 million ($127.5 million). Operating expenses fell by SFr201.2 million, it noted.

It said in a statement that its passenger load had risen but reported that freight traffic had felt the impact of the economic crisis. Measures taken to counter the crisis had shown their effects, the group added.

The government-owned entity said its passenger count rose by 4.3 per cent and that 8.7 per cent more passengers were using the general rail pass, which provides unlimited ridership on Switzerland’s public transportation network.

The number of people who purchased a pass for half price fares rose by 3.6 per cent.

The group’s chief executive officer, Andreas Meyer, said that losses in the cargo unit widened to SFr24.4 million. That division’s volume declined be more than 16 per cent to SFr435 million.

Meyer called on the federal and cantonal governments to provide more money for infrastructure investments.

Switzerland has the world’s densest rail network.

swissinfo.ch and agencies