Swiss Federal Railways reports record punctuality in 2025

This year's good performance was achieved despite numerous events, which required 1,600 special trains, Swiss Federal Railways said. Keystone-SDA

Swiss Federal Railways has reported a record 94.1% punctuality rate for 2025. Canton Ticino was the only region to see a drop in punctuality, while French-speaking Switzerland saw a major improvement.

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Compared to 2024, passenger punctuality improved by 0.9%, Federal Railways reported on Tuesday. And December 28, 2025 was the most punctual day in the company’s history: 98.6% of trains reached their destination on time that day.

This year’s good performance was achieved despite numerous events which required 1,600 special trains, such as the Eurovision Song Contest and the UEFA European Women’s Championship, and despite major construction projects, including the interruption of sections between Bern and Fribourg, the Federal Railways said.

Improvement in French-speaking Switzerland

In French-speaking Switzerland, the situation has improved, with 93.4% of trains on time (2024: 91.9%; 2023: 89.2%). At 98.9%, the punctuality of connections is above the Swiss average, Federal Railways points out. This positive trend is due to the 2025 timetable, which has improved the “robustness” of the system.

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However, the situation has got worse in canton Ticino due to the lack of punctuality and reliability of trains from Italy and work at Lugano/Melide.

Punctuality fell to 92.1% (2024: 92.6%). It was also affected by strikes in Italy and the ban on the Simplon line. This caused a diversion of goods trains to the Gotthard axis with a record number of trains in the base tunnel.

Freight traffic also more punctual

Freight traffic was also more punctual. At SBB Cargo, customer punctuality improved by 2.2% to 90.2% (2024: 88%). This improvement can be attributed to the implementation of targeted measures, such as “the quality of production in the Lausanne marshalling yard despite staff shortages”.

In this sector, Federal Railways will in future concentrate more on wagonload traffic, which will also have a positive effect on punctuality, they believe.

International passenger traffic remains a challenge. Some trains arrive late in Switzerland, particularly from Germany, which has an impact on punctuality. To remedy this, Federal Railways turns trains around at the border when necessary, and operates replacement trains on the Swiss side.

Adapted from French by AI/sb

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