Swiss road transport reaches a new peak

Last year, there were 941,000 heavy-goods vehicles transiting the Alps, contributing to the record road transport figures. © Keystone/Davide Agosta

Goods transport on Swiss roads rose by 2.5% last year, the biggest increase in two decades, according to latest official data. 

Road transport grew particularly strongly in domestic sector in 2018 and reached 10.7 billion tonnes per kilometre, the Federal Statistics OfficeExternal link said on Tuesday. The share of rail transport remained at 37% compared with road freight at 63%. 

Rail cargo traffic increased by 1.4% last year. Overall, road and rail transport totalled nearly 28 billion tonnes per kilometre. 

The main reason for the record figures is economic growth with Gross Domestic Product increasing by 2.8% last year. 

Swiss voters in 1994 approved an initiative to protect the Alpine region from the negative effects of transit traffic through Switzerland. 

However, environmental groups have criticised that implementation of the initiative has been slow and the target of 650,000 annual transits by lorries has not been achieved. 

Last week, the government decided to earmark CHF180 million ($182 million) as part of a package to promote the transfer of heavy-goods transport from road to rail. Parliament still has to discuss the proposal.