ZÜRICH Public Transport (VBZ) unveiled a mock-up of its forthcoming Bombardier Flexity low-floor LRV on April 24.

SWITZERLAND’s second-largest railway BLS published its annual results on April 19, revealing that the company’s rail, bus, and lake shipping services had breached the 1 billion passenger-km barrier for the first time.

THE losses incurred by rail freight operators, logistics companies and their customers as a result of the collapse of a new tunnel at Rastatt, Germany, and subsequent closure of the Rhine Valley Line in August 2017 amounted to more than €2bn, according to new study into the impact of the incident.

FOLLOWING detailed examination of applications submitted by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and BLS, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Transport (BAV) announced on April 19 that it plans to grant SBB a 10-year concession for operation of most of the country’s long-distance services. However, BLS will be granted a concession for the Bern - Biel and Bern - Burgdorf - Olten routes. 

SWISS rail freight operator BLS Cargo achieved record turnover of SFr 203m ($US 213.6m) in 2017, a 6% increase compared with 2016, while net profits more than doubled from SFr 1.5m to SFr 3.5m.

THE first of seven Tango LRVs for Appenzell Railways (AB), Switzerland, was moved the short distance from Stadler Rail’s Altenrhein plant to St Gallen on March 22/23.

SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) published its annual results on March 20, revealing an increase in income despite heavy losses in the struggling domestic rail freight market.

SWITZERLAND’s Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway (MOB) has awarded Stadler a contract to supply 20 variable-gauge coaches for GoldenPass Express services from Montreux to Zweisimmen and Interlaken East, which MOB will operate jointly with BLS.

A crucial decision on the future of Switzerland’s inter-city network will be made this year, which could break SBB’s monopoly on the sector. BLS CEO Bernard Guillelmon talks to Keith Barrow about how the country’s second-largest railway plans to re-enter the long-distance market.

SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) has initiated a programme of frequent mechanical point condition monitoring commonly deployed on heavily-used lines on its main line network following three major derailments in 2017.