SBB President on overcrowded trains "Then there will be standing room on many routes by 2050"
SBB President Monika Ribar has spoken about the challenges facing Swiss rail transport. She spoke about planned measures to relieve overcrowded trains - and possible standing room.
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- SBB has more passengers than ever before, which means that overcrowded trains are causing major problems.
- According to SBB President Monika Ribar, the railroad must be further expanded and capacity bottlenecks eliminated to prevent more and more standing room.
- The number of seats on SBB trains is to be increased by 20 percent by 2035.
The number of passengers is higher than ever before. Last year, SBB already recorded a record number of passengers, resulting in more and more overcrowded trains and passengers being left behind. In an interview with "Blick", SBB President Monika Ribar comments on the challenges facing Swiss rail traffic.
"In the major centers such as Zurich, we reach capacity limits at peak times. That's why the rail service needs to be expanded further," says Monika Ribar. According to the 65-year-old, SBB is in the process of replacing older trains with new double-decker trains that can carry more passengers. However, longer trains are not possible due to insufficient platform lengths.
SBB wants to increase the number of seats by 20 percent by 2035
But are these double-decker trains really enough to solve the problem of overcrowded trains to a large extent? Or will passengers have to do without seats more and more in the future?
"Our forecasts show: If we do nothing, there will be standing room on many routes by 2050, and in some cases passengers won't even be able to travel because trains are overcrowded," says the SBB President, giving an uncomfortable outlook for the future. In order to prevent this, the railroad must be further expanded and capacity bottlenecks eliminated, says Ribar.
The number of seats at SBB is to be increased by 20 percent by 2035. "The focus here is on the conurbations, where we have the most traffic," explains Ribar. There are also plans to introduce half-hourly services across the board on long-distance services and even quarter-hourly services on many routes. However, some of this expansion would take until the 2040s.
Will prices for passengers continue to rise?
Whether these expansion measures would also mean rising prices for passengers is not so easy to answer, according to the SBB President. "We are now talking about a volume of around 30 billion Swiss francs for the 2035 expansion phase. This will be paid for from the railroad infrastructure fund, which must also be used to finance the increasing maintenance and operation of the infrastructure," Ribar replies evasively. It is imperative to consider the system as a whole - especially as the railroad infrastructure fund is not inexhaustible.
"We can't simply increase our prices like other companies. Price increases are determined within the umbrella organization, the Alliance Swisspass. In addition, politicians have a say in how much financial support public transport should receive, as does the price watchdog," she says, citing the many factors that play a role in a price increase.
Ribar is particularly pleased that Switzerland is one of the few countries "that is already thinking about the 2045 timetable or even later and what we need for it". According to the SBB President, the planned capacity expansions and the quarter-hourly service are "a huge step forward".
