Federal Railways stays on track to bigger profit
Switzerland’s Federal Railways has announced a net profit of SFr42.6 million ($36.9 million) for 2004 – its second annual profit in a row.
The company said on Friday that 2004 had been a key year, with a major timetable change as well as more passengers and goods being transported.
Profit rose more than 70 per cent over 2003, when it reached SFr24.9 million.
“This positive result was obtained, despite exceptional expenditures, thanks to increased productivity as well as consistent cost management,” said the Federal Railways in a statement.
Revenue rose eight per cent to SFr7 billion, while total costs reached SFr6.7 billion.
The company made a loss of SFr12 million in 2002.
All change
The improved and extended timetable, introduced on December 12 was the largest restructuring undertaken by the Federal Railways in decades.
It saw the introduction of connections between major urban centres every half hour. In all, 90% of all departure and arrival times were affected and more than half of all connections were improved.
The Federal Railways said the number of passengers using its services had increased to 253.4 million, 2.5 million more than in 2003. Goods transported in tons per kilometre rose by 1.8 per cent.
But the Federal Railways’ cargo division, the leading supplier of rail freight services in Switzerland, made a loss of SFr2.8 million. This was less than in 2003, when it was SFr33.1 million in the red.
The division said, however, that it expected to make a profit in 2005.
In 1999 the Federal Railways was transformed from a federally controlled institution into a company wholly owned by the Swiss government.
swissinfo with agencies
The Federal Railways made a profit of SFr42.6 million ($36.9 million) for 2004.
The number of passengers increased to 253.4 million, 2.5 million more than in 2003.
The company employed 28,351 staff at the end of last year – down 1.2% on 2003.
Goods transported in tons per kilometres rose by 1.8 per cent.
The cargo division made a loss of SFr2.8 million.
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.