Skip to main content
Mobility and Transport

Although Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it is one of the constituent countries of the Trans-European Network for Transport, since it is crossed by the Rhine - Alpine corridor and located in a central point on the routes between northern and southern Europe. Additionally, it is a major objective to improve the crossing of the Alps both for passengers and freight. Transit through the Alps is made possible by the Gotthard and Lotschberg base tunnel projects.

Infrastructure Managers

In Switzerland, there are two Infrastructure Managers. They are at the same time Railway companies which operate their own network. In addition, an agency (Trasse CH) is responsible for traffic allocation on the Swiss network.

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) is the biggest Swiss railway company, managing the majority of national and international services. The length of its network that belongs to the Rhine - Alpine corridor is approximately 520 km:

BLS (Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon) is the other leading Swiss rail company. It manages another major Alpine route between Bern and Brig, via the Lötschberg Base Tunnel. This route is also part of the Rhine - Alpine corridor.

National implementation plan

The Swiss National Implementation Plan (NIP) was delivered in 2017. It is fully compliant with the ERTMS European Deployment Plan, except for the cross-border sections, which could be at risk of not being completed on time.

According to the Swiss NIP:

  • The network will have mixed ERTMS levels; some lines will be equipped with ERTMS Level 1, such as the Muttenz – Rothrist line, and others with ERTMS Level 2, such as the Lausanne – Villeneuve line.
  • Since the beginning of 2018, new vehicles no longer need the SIGNUM Class B system, and ZUB because ETCS Level 1 Limited Supervision Swiss (LSCH) includes packet 44 (EuroSIGNUM/EuroZUB).

National Implementation Plans (NIP) country by country

National Safety Authority

BAV (Federal Transport Office) is the Swiss Authority responsible for the safety and regulation of the Swiss railway system. It deals with all aspects of the Swiss transport policy, as they relate to public transport, and it is responsible for the implementation of the transfer policy (transferring freight from road to rail).