All Switzerland articles
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NewsOver 500 trainsets to replace Swiss regional fleets
SBB Stadler Flirt. SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways, Thurbo and RegionAlps have jointly called tenders for the supply of 194 single-deck regional trainsets of a ‘tried and tested platform already in use in a European country’. The order worth up to SFr1∙5bn which was announced on ...
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News
Swiss narrow gauge operators to study merger
SWITZERLAND: The Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn and Appenzeller Bahnen boards have agreed to examine a possible merger of the two companies. The 1 000 mm gauge networks are not connected, but the companies have worked together since 2003 and it is envisaged that combining could reduce costs. ...
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News
Electric-battery locomotives delivered to Rhätische Bahn
SWITZERLAND: Rhätische Bahn has taken delivery of the first two of seven Geaf 2/2 electric-battery shunting locomotives ordered from Stadler. The SFr21·5 order for the metre-gauge locomotives was placed in September 2018, with RhB undertaking procurement in co-operation with Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn which ordered two similar ...
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News
Lötschberg base tunnel reopened after water ingress mitigated
SWITZERLAND: The Lötschberg base tunnel was fully reopened at 17.00 on April 24, after being closed for almost six weeks because of significant water ingress in the eastern bore. The tunnel initially closed on February 6. One bore was reopened on February 7 and the ...
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News
Testing resumes in Ceneri Base Tunnel
SWITZERLAND: Test running has restarted in the 15∙4 km Ceneri Base Tunnel at the southern end of the Gotthard corridor. Agreement for the tests to resume on April 20 was reached after tunnel contractor AlpTransit Gotthard AG concluded discussions with medical specialists at operator SBB and ...
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News
Swiss Combi’s purchase of SBB Cargo stake approved
Swiss Combi’s purchase of a 35% stake in SBB Cargo AG has been approved by the country’s Competition Commission SWITZERLAND: Swiss Combi’s purchase of a 35% stake in SBB Cargo AG was approved by the country’s Competition Commission on April 2. The transaction for an undisclosed ...
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News
BLS orders EMUs
SWITZERLAND: BLS has placed a firm order for a further six Stadler Flirt electric multiple-units. The order has been placed using an option on a contract for an initial 52 six-car Flirt EMUs which was signed by BLS and Stadler in January 2018. Stadler had ...
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News
Italian cross-border traffic restricted
ETR610 Pendolino trainsets are used on cross-border services to and from Switzerland. EUROPE: Following the introduction of widespread travel restrictions across Italy, Swiss Federal Railways’ services from Genève and Zürich to Venezia have been cut back to Milano. With effect from Thursday March 12 some Zürich ...
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News
Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn orders rack EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn has awarded Stadler an SFr148·5m contract to supply 12 three-car metre-gauge rack electric multiple-units to replace hauled stock on its regional services. The first of the EMUs are scheduled to be delivered for testing in mid-2022, with all 12 in service from ...
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News
Direct London – Bordeaux trains could start in 2022, suggests SNCF
A direct London – Bordeaux service could be launched in 2022, President of SNCF International Diego Diaz suggested when commemorative boards were unveiled at London’s St Pancras station to mark a twinning agreement with Bordeaux Saint-Jean.
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News
Gateway Basel Nord secures next phase funding but faces another legal setback
SWITZERLAND: The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt voted on February 12 to approve funding for a loan worth SFr115∙53m to enable construction of a new basin forming part of the Gateway Basel Nord trimodal terminal to go ahead. Known as Dock 3, the 330 m long basin ...
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News
Narrow gauge operator orders EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Chemin de Fer Nyon-Saint-Cergue-Morez has awarded Stadler a contract to supply six two-car electric multiple-units. Deliveries are scheduled between late 2021 and early 2022. The 1·5 kV DC EMUs will be similar to four Abe4/8 units which Stadler supplied to the 27 km long metre-gauge ...
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News
Appenzeller Bahnen electro-diesel locomotives delivered
SWITZERLAND: Appenzeller Bahnen has taken delivery of two Stadler Gem 2/2 electro-diesel locomotives for use on its infrastructure maintenance trains. The two-axle metre-gauge locomotives were ordered at cost of SFr5·3m in March 2018 to replace 50-year old diesel-only locos. The 28 ...
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Freight coalition publishes Contingency Management handbook
EUROPE: In a bid to avoid the widespread disruption to international rail traffic which occurred following the tunnel collapse at Rastatt in August 2017, and to provide greater resilience for commercially sensitive traffic, a coalition of rail freight operators and industry associations has put together a Contingency ...
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Urban news
Léman Express launches cross-border operations
EUROPE: The Léman Express cross-border suburban network serving Genève and Annemasse began regular operation on December 16, following a formal inauguration on December 12 and a weekend of public celebrations.
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News
Swiss-German border railway modernisation agreed
EUROPE: Officials from the Land of Baden-Württemberg, the canton of Basel and DB Netz gathered in Laufenburg on September 30 to agree a package of enhancements for the Hochrheinbahn route which links Basel with Singen via Schaffhausen. The railway straddles the border between Germany and ...
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News
Swiss Combi buys stake in SBB Cargo
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Combi AG, a joint venture formed of four road transport and logistics companies in the private sector, has bought a 35% stake in SBB Cargo AG for an undisclosed sum.
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News
SBB Cargo plans in the cloud
SWITZERLAND: SBB Cargo has begun using a cloud-hosted version of IVU Traffic Technologies’ IVU.rail software to plan the deployment of around 320 locomotives and 2 200 employees each day. The supplier said its IVU.cloud package offered the operator scalability, with a secure connection enabling up to 150 people work ...
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News
BLS and SBB agree to share long-distance concession
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways and BLS AG have reached ‘an amicable solution’ to share the operation of long-distance services, the Federal Ministry of Environment, Transport, Energy & Communication announced on August 22. This will enable BLS to re-enter the long-distance passenger market with effect from the December 2019 timetable change. ...
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DB to refurbish SBB coaches
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded Deutsche Bahn a contract to refurbish 93 Einheitswagen IV coaches at its Wittenberge and Neumünster workshops from 2020. The first of the EW IV coaches were delivered to SBB in 1981, and they are expected to remain in service until the 2030s. The ...
