Following the rejection (thank you swiss voters) of the 2024 national road expansion and challenges in financing the 2035 railway service concept, UVEK commissioned ETH Zürich to prioritize around 500 infrastructure projects for the period 2025–2045. The full (german) document can be found
here.
The goal was to group these into coherent regional packages and assess their strategic relevance, feasibility, and financial viability. I extracted the key findings on the railway projects from the publicly published PDF. I left out the road projects:
Total Investment Volume: CHF 112.7 billion
- Railway projects: CHF 62.2 billion (135 positions)
- National roads: CHF 39.1 billion (40 positions)
- Agglomeration transport: CHF 11.4 billion (51 positions)
Railways
- High priority: Luzern through-station, Zimmerberg Base Tunnel 2, Zürich–Winterthur expansion
- Deferred: Basel "Herzstück" S-Bahn tunnel, Lausanne–Bern acceleration, Zürich–Aarau direct tunnel
- Low priority: Many station upgrades and timetable-driven projects due to high cost and limited impact
Agglomeration Transport
- High priority: Tram expansions in Geneva, Lausanne, Basel, Zürich-Nord
- Deferred: Metro proposals (e.g., Geneva), large-scale projects without network synergy
- Positive impact: Cost-effective, multimodal hubs and cycling infrastructure
The most important railway projects in detail:
1. Luzern Through Station (Durchgangsbahnhof Luzern)
- Investment: CHF 4.87 billion
- Purpose: Transform Luzern from a terminus into a through station.
- Impact: Eliminates bottlenecks, improves regional and national connectivity, supports growth in Luzern–Zürich–Zug corridor.
2. Zimmerberg Base Tunnel 2 (Zürich–Luzern Corridor)
- Investment: CHF 1.76 billion
- Purpose: Adds capacity and reliability to the Zürich–Zug–Luzern axis.
- Impact: Enables faster and more frequent services, supports long-term modal shift to rail.
3. Zürich–Winterthur Expansion
- Investment: CHF 1.65 billion
- Purpose: Adds a fourth track between Zürich and Winterthur.
- Impact: Resolves a critical bottleneck in the S-Bahn Zürich network, improves punctuality and capacity.
4. Geneva Cornavin Station Expansion
- Tiefbahnhof (underground station): CHF 1.77 billion
- Surface facilities upgrade: CHF 322 million
- Purpose: Increase capacity and passenger flow efficiency.
- Impact: Supports regional and international traffic, prepares for future double-track Genève–Lausanne line.
5. Geneva–Lausanne Line (Morges–Perroy New Track)
- Investment: CHF 3.12 billion (only feasible under BIF-24 scenario)
- Purpose: First phase of a second double-track line.
- Impact: Adds redundancy and capacity to a heavily used corridor.
6. Grimseltunnel (Meiringen–Oberwald)
- Investment: CHF 800 million (priority only under BIF-24)
- Purpose: Combined infrastructure for electricity and tourism rail.
- Impact: Connects Bernese Oberland with Valais, boosts tourism and regional development.
7. Neuchâtel–La Chaux-de-Fonds Direct Line
- Investment: CHF 1.55 billion (priority only under BIF-24)
- Purpose: Replace slow, indirect route with a direct connection.
- Impact: Improves regional accessibility, reduces travel time, supports economic development.
8. S-Bahn Genève and Lausanne Upgrades
- Includes:
- La Plaine station expansion
- Romont capacity upgrades
- Fribourg–Payerne freight crossing improvements
- Impact: Enhances regional rail services and freight flexibility.
9. International Rail Enhancements
- Geneva–Milan corridor: Upgrades at Sion and St-Triphon
- Zürich–Munich corridor: Abstellgleis (sidings) in Zürich Wollishofen
- Impact: Supports cross-border passenger and freight services.
Notes on Financial Scenarios
- BIF-14: Conservative funding (CHF 14 billion) – some large projects like Grimseltunnel and Morges–Perroy are deferred.
- BIF-24: Expanded funding (CHF 24 billion) – allows full prioritization of all key projects.
These are the proposals from the team of experts. We will see what politicians make of them.
