The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss Federal Railways rated second best in Europe

Train
Travelling to the Jungfraujoch in the Bernese Alps. Keystone / Anthony Anex

The best railway company in Europe is Trenitalia, according to NGO Transport and Environment (T&E). Swiss Federal Railways came second and the Czech RegioJet third. Eurostar was rated worst.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The train “is the mainstay of mobility in most European countries, a pillar of mobility that is often singled out for failure”, said Victor Thévenet, rail coordinator for the thinktank, which on Monday published a ranking of 27 companies evaluated according to criteria such as ticket prices and reliability.

With this study, Thévenet said T&E wanted to offer a comprehensive comparison framework, enabling companies to draw on good practices to move forwards and encourage states to implement more rail-friendly regulations.

+ Read more: Swiss are keenest rail users in Europe

Trenitalia, according to the NGO, offers one of the best value for money on the continent and excels in almost all categories, with the exception of the offer for travellers with bicycles.

Eight criteria were used to evaluate companies on medium- and long-distance routes, the most important of which is ticket price. Other criteria included reliability, the offer of discounts, compensation policies, the offer of night trains and bicycle spaces.

+ Swiss night trains: past, present and future

As for Eurostar, not only is it the worst company on the continent, it is also the most expensive. The prices of the SNCF Voyageurs subsidiary are double the European average and do not guarantee service quality, says T&E, which cites in particular its lack of reliability.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/ts

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

Finma wants to be able to intervene before crises arise

More

Swiss financial watchdog demands more powers

This content was published on The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is calling for legal changes to enable it to intervene early on if banks violate corporate governance rules.

Read more: Swiss financial watchdog demands more powers
Record-breaking Bocion sold at Basel auction for $270,250

More

François Bocion painting fetches record at Swiss auction

This content was published on The oil painting La chasse aux grèbes by Lausanne artist François Bocion (1828-1890) fetched a record CHF270,250 ($315,530) at an auction in Basel in early April, the highest price ever paid for one of his works.

Read more: François Bocion painting fetches record at Swiss auction
House price rises accelerate

More

Swiss property prices continue to climb

This content was published on The prices of owner-occupied properties continued to rise in the first three months of 2025. But large regional disparities remain.

Read more: Swiss property prices continue to climb

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