The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss Federal Railways want direct trains between Zurich and Rome

Trenitalia, SBB new Eurocity train
The Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia unveiled a new Eurocity train on Friday that will run between Switzerland and Italy. Keystone / Ti-Press / Elia Bianchi

In addition to the new connections to Italy announced on Friday, the Swiss Federal Railways would like to see a direct link between Zurich and Rome, says the company's head of passenger traffic, but the necessary rolling stock does not exist.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

“Train paths are already heavily used today,” Véronique Stephan told Tamedia German-language newspapers. In the debate about additional rail connections abroad, it’s often forgotten that there’s a shortage of space in Italy as well as in Switzerland, she said. The rail network is also used by regional and freight trains. To obtain more capacity, one service has to step aside.

Stephan also sees potential in a direct link between Geneva and Lyon, but this depends on France’s interest. Partners abroad know their markets, and an international link has to be economically viable, she said.

From 2026, the Federal Railways and Trenitalia will offer direct trains to Zurich to Florence and Livorno and vice versa. The two companies also presented a new Eurocity train to the press on Friday, which will run between the two countries.

+ Direct trains to run from Zurich to Florence and Livorno

From 2026, an additional link will be introduced between Zurich, Milan and Venice. Last year, the Federal Railways and Trenitalia carried around 500,000 more passengers between the two countries than in 2019, before the pandemic. A total of 2.4 million people travelled by train between Switzerland and Italy in 2023.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

F/A-18 take-offs and landings at Bern-Belp Airport

More

F/A-18s take off and land at Bern Airport

This content was published on The Swiss Armed Forces are training their fighter jets in Bern to fly from a civilian base. The exercise at Bern Airport will last until Wednesday.

Read more: F/A-18s take off and land at Bern Airport
cern

More

Plans materialise for new particle accelerator in Geneva

This content was published on Preparations for a huge new particle accelerator in Geneva have reached a milestone. After several years of work, a feasibility study for the project has now been finalised.

Read more: Plans materialise for new particle accelerator in Geneva
More Russian assets frozen in Switzerland

More

More Russian assets frozen in Switzerland

This content was published on The value of frozen Russian assets in Switzerland currently stands at CHF7.4 billion ($8.4 billion), the Swiss government announced on Tuesday.

Read more: More Russian assets frozen in Switzerland
Increase in business start-ups in the 1st quarter

More

Increase in Swiss business start-ups in Q1

This content was published on The number of business start-ups in Switzerland accelerated in the first three months of the year, with entrepreneurs being particularly dynamic in Central Switzerland, Basel and Geneva.

Read more: Increase in Swiss business start-ups in Q1

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR