"This is no longer an issue" SBB's "shaking train" will not travel abroad
The FV-Dosto was once also supposed to run on international routes - but this will not happen. SBB confirms: The controversial double-decker train will remain on Swiss tracks in future.
17.12.2025, 07:15
17.12.2025, 08:43
SDA
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- SBB will not be operating the FV-Dosto double-decker train abroad, as other trains are better suited to cross-border routes.
- The FV-Dosto will continue to be used on domestic routes such as east-west and north-south.
- From 2026, the trains will be technically upgraded at a cost of CHF 90 million.
SBB will not use the double-decker FV-Dosto train - also known as the "shaking train" - abroad. "This is no longer an issue," said an SBB spokeswoman to Swiss Radio and Television on Wednesday.
The spokesperson for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) told SRF Radio's "Heute Morgen" program that the aim of the procurement was to keep all options open. "In the meantime, we have seen that there are other trains that are more suitable for use on longer routes abroad," she said, referring to the Astoro, which operates cross-border services.
The FV-Dosto is more suitable for domestic use, particularly on the east-west and north-south axes, the spokeswoman continued. The spokesperson described the controversial double-decker train as the "backbone of Swiss long-distance transport". SBB owns a total of 62 such trains.
"Not the train we ordered"
Around a year ago, SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot admitted mistakes in the procurement of the FV-Dosto. "The train we got is not the train we ordered," said Ducrot at the time in an interview with the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung". There had been over a thousand subsequent adjustments.
SBB has been testing the "backbone of Swiss long-distance transport" since spring - and has identified potential for improvement in terms of ride comfort and reliability. From next year, SBB will therefore be gradually converting the bogies of the trains, as they announced around two weeks ago. The aim is to noticeably improve ride comfort.
The conversion will cost 90 million francs. However, the investment will be more than compensated for by lower maintenance costs over the entire service life, it said. All in all, the railroad will save CHF 40 million as a result of the conversion. The conversion should therefore be completed by the beginning of the 2030s.
