Quarter-hourly Zurich-Berne service Rösti wants to relieve traffic congestion with these major projects
On Wednesday, the Federal Council decided on key parameters for the expansion of transport infrastructure up to the year 2045. It wants to increase rail capacity and eliminate bottlenecks in the national road network. At the same time, it is abandoning a number of road projects.
28.01.2026, 13:30
28.01.2026, 15:13
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- The Federal Council has adopted guidelines for transport infrastructure up to 2045 and is planning a joint proposal for rail, road and conurbations for the first time.
- For the railroads, new regular-interval connections and major projects such as the Lucerne through station are planned, financed with CHF 24 billion by 2045.
- In the road sector, priority bottleneck elimination measures will be implemented, while over 30 national road projects - including several rejected A1 upgrades - will be canceled.
For the first time, the Federal Council intends to tackle rail and road traffic as well as the agglomerations in a joint proposal. The consultation process is due to begin in June.
For the railroads, the Federal Council wants to improve the connection from Biel/Bienne to Lausanne and Geneva by 2030. Quarter-hourly services between Zurich and Bern and half-hourly services between Bern and Lucerne, Basel and Zurich are to follow by 2035. There will also be systematic half-hourly services on regional routes.
Further major projects are to be added by 2045. These include - approved by Parliament - the first stage of the Lucerne through station and the Grimsel tunnel. The Federal Council will set out which rail projects are to be dispensed with at the start of the consultation process.
To finance the rail projects, the Federal Council proposes extending the VAT per mille in favor of the Rail Infrastructure Fund (BIF) beyond 2030. This would generate an additional CHF 8 billion by 2045, it writes. This would make a total of CHF 24 billion available for rail expansions by 2045.
On the national road network, the Federal Council wants to bring forward projects that can be implemented quickly. It wants to eliminate two bottlenecks on the A1 by widening it to six lanes between Aarau-Ost and the Birrfeld junction in the canton of Aargau and between Perly and Bernex in the canton of Geneva.
By contrast, over 30 motorway projects are to be discontinued, including the A1 widening projects between Schönbühl and Kirchberg in the canton of Bern and between Le Vengeron GE and Nyon VD, which were rejected at the ballot box. Operational measures such as the repurposing of the emergency lane are intended to ease congestion.
