Swiss railways plans CHF7 billion digital upgrade

SBB plans to digitise its rail infrastructure at a cost of 7 billion Swiss francs Keystone-SDA

The digitalisation of the rail infrastructure by 2045 is expected to cost CHF7 billion. This has been confirmed by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and the Federal Office of Transport in response to an enquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency.

SBB’s funding requirements for the digitalisation of rail transport amount to around CHF7 billion ($8.45 billion), as the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) announced on Thursday in response to an enquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. The FOT and SBB have thus confirmed a report in the Swiss paper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The 2027 Budget Message had earmarked CHF1 billion for the digitalisation of the rail infrastructure. This would enable a “first important step”, SBB wrote, but would be far from sufficient. In their assessment, these funds would not be enough to implement all the measures commissioned by the FOT.

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SBB is calling for the digitalisation of the network to be driven forward resolutely, but gives priority to maintaining the existing network and service provision up to 2035. Significant parts of the safety-critical infrastructure would need to be renewed. SBB estimates this would cost around CHF7 billion by 2045.

In response to an enquiry from Keystone-SDA, the FOT confirmed SBB’s funding requirements for the implementation of the digitalisation of rail transport (ERTMS). It added that the funding would be provided through various channels.

+ How we produce news in English
Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist. 

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