Swiss House blocks subsidies for night train to Sweden

Parliament does not want to subsidise night train to Malmö with federal money Keystone-SDA

The Swiss government will not be able to subsidise the overnight train connection to Malmö planned from spring 2026. The House of Representatives has cancelled the CHF10 million ($12.4 million) earmarked for the train from the budget, as the Senate did previously.

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Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) plans to start night trains from Basel to Malmö in April 2026. According to SBB, funding from the federal government is a prerequisite for the trains to run three times a week. Although night trains are popular, they are not profitable due to high costs.

A majority in the House of Representatives did not want the subsidy and prevailed on Tuesday with 99 votes. Alex Farinelli from the Radical-Liberal party said that the CO2 Act makes a subsidy possible, but does not oblige it. The subsidy would amount to CHF100 to CHF200 per ticket.

When asked by Franziska Ryser from the Green party what he would say to families who had already bought tickets for the train, Farinelli said they would have to contact SBB for a refund. Yvan Pahud from the Swiss People’s Party said that money was being thrown out of the window for a train connection used mainly by tourists.

What the minority wanted was in line with the government’s original intention, said Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter. The CHF10 million requested were included in the budget on the instructions of Parliament.

Malmö may be the final stop, but the train also stops in Hamburg, for example, replied Ursula Zybach from the Social Democratic party on behalf of the defeated majority. Tourist air travel also enjoyed tax exemptions. Good train connections are a real alternative for environmentally friendly travel, said Simon Stadler from the Centre party.

The ball is now back in the court of the Senate, which rejected the subsidy last week. The proposal to limit the subsidy to CHF6.5 million did not find a sympathetic ear in the Senate. The Basel cantonal parliament has passed a resolution calling for the money to be allocated for the night train connection.

Adapted from French by AI/jdp

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