In the shadow of the incident in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the Swiss Federal Council approved a new document – BAHN 2050 Perspective. In passenger rail, the most significant potential lies among agglomerations. Switzerland will improve S-Bahn and medium services and upgrade suburban train stations. In freight traffic, access to the railways is to be enhanced with new handling and city logistics facilities, especially in places where rail is not competitive with the road.
The good news is the de-bottlenecking of the north-south axis between the ports and industrial hubs of north-western Europe and Italy and its ports. The Lötschberg base tunnel will be expanded to two tracks throughout instead of only partially. This will create additional capacity and stability on this axis, a lesson hard learned currently with Brenner and Gotthard's routes closed.
Among new projects, there will be a new nine-kilometre-long tunnel between Morges and Perroy on the Lausanne-Geneva route instead of the formerly-planned third track. This creates an alternative route between Lausanne and Geneva in the event of disruptions. The Federal Council has also approved credit increases for the Brütten tunnel, the expansion of the Zurich-Stadelhofen station, and the funds for a comprehensive expansion of the Geneva and Olten train stations.
