Swiss railway maintenance backlog comes to CHF9.5bn

Bills are mounting, says the Swiss federal railways operator. Keystone-SDA

The maintenance backlog on the network run by the Swiss Federal Railways rose by 12% in 2025 to CHF 9.5 billion ($12.2 billion). But the Federal Railways still rates its infrastructure as “good to sufficient”.

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This was announced by the Federal Railways in its annual report on the state of the network.

Despite the growing need for renovations, the Federal Railways gave the overall condition of its infrastructure a mark of 2.8 on a scale of 1 to 5, a similar score to the previous year.

The high availability of the infrastructure was ensured thanks to a reallocation of financial resources, it added. That is, funds intended for preventive maintenance and planned renewals were instead used for short-term, unplanned maintenance measures.

This costlier maintenance work stabilised operations, but also contributed to a longer-term delay in renovation work. “Without corrective action, in the medium term there is a risk of a situation similar to that in other countries,” the Federal Railways stated.

It cited the high usage of the network and limited funds available for renewal as the main reasons for the growing backlog. Usage of the railway infrastructure has doubled since the 1980s. To catch up, at least 230 kilometres of track would need renewing each year.

Last year, only 186 kilometres were renovated. In addition, new expansion projects led to additional annual costs of around 3% for maintaining infrastructure. The Federal Railways has set itself the goal of stabilising the backlog by 2040.

The safety of the infrastructure was guaranteed at all times and the targets set out in an agreement with the federal government were largely achieved, the state-owned company said.

In 2025, passenger delays caused by infrastructure fell by 30% to 7.9 million minutes. This was due to intensive maintenance work and favourable weather conditions. In total, infrastructure work was responsible for one fifth of all passenger delay minutes.

Adapted from Italian by AI/dos

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