73-525: The United Swiss Railways ( Vereinigten Schweizerbahnen ; VSB or V.S.B.) was a former railway company in Switzerland. It was the smallest of the five main railways that were nationalised from 1902 to form the Swiss Federal Railways . The United Swiss Railways were established on 1 May 1857 by the merger of three railway companies, all of which were in financial difficulties: One of the reasons for
146-705: A depot and locomotive workshop of the Dampfbahn-Verein Zürcher Oberland , the heritage railway that operates the Bauma–Hinwil line . The electrification of the line required the replacement of the Sitter , Glatt, Uze and Thur bridges between St. Gallen and Wil and the wooden Rhine bridge at Ragaz . However, the stone bridge over the Goldach has been preserved and has been used by two tracks since 1993. The chainage (kilometre markings) has not been changed on
219-661: A long time. The former SBB District Directorate IV was created from the headquarters of the VSB in St. Gallen. The former SBB main workshop in Chur had its roots in the SOB. Over time, the now closed SBB Rorschach locomotive depot emerged from the main workshop of the VSB. The railway built in Uster what is now the oldest roundhouse with a turntable in Switzerland. The carriage house has been restored and now serves as
292-403: A national icon. It is special in that it stops for just over a second at the end of each minute, to wait for a signal from the master clock which sets it going again — thus keeping all station clocks synchronised. The clock owes its technology to the particular requirements of operating a railway. First, railway timetables do not list seconds; trains in Switzerland always leave the station on
365-736: A rail link from Delle to Lucerne via Delémont and Langenthal ( Jura–Gotthard Railway ). In addition, the Bern-Lucerne Railway ( Bern-Luzern-Bahn ; BLB) planned a line to the Gotthard via Langnau . To defend against this double competition, the SCB began construction of the Langenthal–Wauwil railway . It would have connected the Olten–Bern and the Olten–Lucerne lines and significantly shortened
438-651: A second rail link between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance ( Bodensee ). Originally, the National Railway planned a line from Aarau via Olten through the Gäu to Solothurn and on to Lyss . Along with the NOB, the SCB made daring commitments to build new lines to fight the competition. In 1872, the SCB entered into an undertaking with the canton of Solothurn to build the Gäu Railway ( Gäubahn ; Olten–Solothurn–Lyss, now considered part of
511-455: A short circuit on a long-distance power transmission line in central Switzerland led to a chain reaction. The entire Swiss railway network was out of service during rush hour and an estimated 200,000 people and 1,500 trains were stuck at stations or somewhere on the track. It turned out that the SBB power transmission network was overloaded and did not provide enough redundancy to tolerate the shutdown of
584-445: Is SBB. While the official Romansh name, Viafiers federalas svizras (VFF), can be found in federal laws and associated documents, as well as Romansh-language media, it is not used by the company itself. Swiss Federal Railways is divided into three divisions and eight groups. The divisions manage the relevant operational businesses. These divisions are: The former division Cargo became an independent group company at
657-558: Is headquartered in Bern . It used to be a government institution , but since 1999 it has been a special stock corporation whose shares are held by the Swiss Confederation and the Swiss cantons . It is currently the largest rail and transport company of Switzerland; it operates on most standard gauge lines of the Swiss network . It also heavily collaborates with most other transport companies of
730-609: Is responsible for passenger traffic in Germany. It operates the Wiesentalbahn and the Seehas services. Other subsidiaries are THURBO , RegionAlps , AlpTransit Gotthard AG , Cisalpino , and TiLo (the latter in conjunction with Italian authorities). Swiss Federal Railways hold significant shares of the Zentralbahn and Lyria SAS . The Stiftung Historisches Erbe der SBB (" SBB Historic ")
803-527: The Sissach–Gelterkinden tramway ( Sissach-Gelterkinden-Bahn ), including funding a third of its construction costs. The SCB increased its share capital from CHF 37.5 to 50 million in 1873 to finance the construction of new lines and the duplication of parts of the old network. When Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to Germany as a result of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, attempts were made to build
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#1732858819406876-822: The Aargau Southern Railway ( Aargauische Südbahn ), which connected their lines to the Gotthard Railway from Rupperswil via Wohlen to Immensee , operated by the Central Railway, from 1873 to 1882. The opening of these two lines led to a decline in traffic on the Hauenstein line. The construction of the Basel Connecting Line also occurred in this period. In the Treaty on the Construction and Operation of
949-659: The Balkans . Until the 1890s, the VSB supported a projected railway under the Splügen Pass , which, however, could not be built because of a lack of funds. Eventually the VSB succeeded in establishing the right to use an important connection to Zürich over the Wallisellen– Zürich line of the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB). Since the idea of building an eastern Alpine railway from Chur towards Italy ended with
1022-566: The Chemins de fer de l'Est to the SCB under a federal decree. The Salinenbahn (Salt Railway) from Pratteln to the Schweizer Salinen (Swiss salt works) at Schweizerhalle was opened on 28 October 1872. The opening of the Gotthard Railway gave the SCB a strong boost from 1882 onwards. Both passenger and freight traffic increased strongly and permanently. The SCB received half the profits of
1095-535: The Chur–Thusis line , opened in 1896. The VSB suffered, like many other companies, during the economic crisis of the late 1870s. Its stock prices dropped massively. In contrast to the NOB or the Swiss Central Railway , the VSB were able to distribute modest dividends from 1871 onwards. Because the VSB was not able to expand its network after 1859, it had low debt and its financial situation was very solid. In
1168-568: The Federal Assembly approved the purchase of Schweizerische Centralbahn (SCB) to operate trains on behalf of the federal government. The first train running on the account of the Swiss Confederation ran during the night of New Year's Eve 1900/New Year's Day 1901 from Zürich via Bern to Geneva , and received a ceremonial welcome upon arriving in Bern. SBB's management board was first formed in mid-1901, and added Schweizerische Nordostbahn (NOB) to
1241-731: The Jura Foot Railway ), along with the Solothurn– Biberist branch line (now considered part of the Solothurn–Langnau railway ). In return, Solothurn demanded the creation of the Waterfalls Railway ( Wasserfallenbahn ) from Liestal through the Jura to Solothurn and its continuation from Solothurn to Schönbühl near Bern. The SCB also committed to build a local railway ( Lokalbahn ) from Liestal to Waldenburg and to participate in
1314-589: The Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern Railway ( Chemin de fer Lausanne–Fribourg–Berne ) and on Lake Biel with the Schweizerische Ostwestbahn (Swiss East-West Railway). In the same year, the Chemins de fer de l'Est linked its network in Basel with the Central Railway, giving the SCB a direct connection to the international rail network. In Olten there is a stone relief documenting the zero point of
1387-616: The Lindau – St. Margrethen link on 1 August 1872 and the Feldkirch –Buchs section on 20 October 1872, leading to an increase in traffic. The Arlberg Railway , which was opened on 6 September 1884, had a significant influence on the development of traffic. The VSB gave access to two metre-gauge lines of the Rhaetian Railway ( Rhätische Bahn ), the Landquart–Davos lines , opened in 1889, and
1460-467: The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 1902. The SCB based in Basel was founded on 4 February 1853 by Johann Jakob Speiser, Achilles Bischoff and Karl Geigy. The shares were mainly owned by Parisian banks. But Basel banks and the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft were also involved. The issue of shares worth Swiss Francs (CHF) 36 million and bonds worth CHF 12 million were planned. Speculation on
1533-456: The Zentralbahn , in which SBB holds shares. In the 19th century, all Swiss railways were owned by private ventures. The economic and political interests of these companies led to lines being built in parallel and some companies went bankrupt in the resulting competition. On 20 February 1898 the Swiss people agreed in a referendum to the creation of a state-owned railway company. Later that year,
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#17328588194061606-923: The buffer system in 1872. The Federal Shooting Festival ( Eidgenössisches Schützenfest ) took place in St. Gallen from 18 to 27 July 1874. The VSB transported 140,000 people to St. Gallen over ten days. This required the assistance of staff and rolling stock from the NOB and the VB. The first through train from Rorschach via St. Gallen was introduced to serve the Swiss National Exhibition ( Schweizerische Landesausstellung ) in Zürich in 1883. Previously passengers had to change in Winterthur from VSB to NOB trains. The company changed from Bernese time to Central European Time on 1 June 1894. Direct coaches ran between St. Gallen and Geneva from 1 June 1896. In 1901, shortly before
1679-594: The nationalisation . the VSB took over the Toggenburgerbahn (TB) at no cost from the Canton of St. Gallen , which indirectly subsidised the construction of the Ricken Tunnel . The VSB was nationalised on 1 July 1902 and subsequently became part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). The VSB had already been operated on behalf of the federal government since 1 January 1901. Part of the old corporate structures remained for
1752-663: The French-speaking part of Switzerland. Another integrated control centre will be opened in Zürich. All trains and most buildings have been made non-smoking since the timetable change of 11 December 2005. By the end of 2006, the corporation was handed over from the long-term CEO Benedikt Weibel to his successor Andreas Meyer . On 13 January 2019, Bloomberg reported that SBB was in talks with German aviation company Lilium GmbH to create air taxis to carry customers from train stations to their final destination. The Swiss Federal Railways clock designed by Hans Hilfiker has become
1825-728: The Gotthard Railway , Switzerland undertook to connect its network with the Baden Railways by rail over the Rhine. The Basel Connecting Line was built by the SCB together with the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways and put into operation on 3 November 1873. A year before, the section of the Strasbourg–Basel railway from the French border at St. Ludwig to the Centralbahnhof was transferred from
1898-604: The Gütsch tunnel near Lucerne. Seven railway workers were killed immediately and four seriously injured. On 4 June 1899, the Zurich– Geneva night express of the NOB ran past a designated stopping point in Aarau and ran into two stationary Central Railway locomotives. The accident caused two deaths and three serious injuries. In 1891, a banking consortium offered the federal government the majority of shares in SCB. The policy would have had
1971-447: The Paris stock exchange, however, led to a sharp fall in prices. Thus, the value of the SCB shares fell from CHF 500 to 200 and the share capital finally amounted to only CHF 14.5 million. The cantons of Luzern and Bern and Bernese municipalities rescued the company by buying shares and subsidies totaling CHF 6 million. The main goal of the SCB was the construction of a railway network in
2044-707: The Passenger division got all modern Re 460s and opted for multiple unit trains, mainline locomotives were bought only by the Cargo division, namely Re 482 "Traxx F140 AC" (2002), Re 484 "Traxx F140 MS" (2004) and Re 474 "ES64 F4" (2004). The first multiple units originated from the Seetalbahn , which was formed in 1922. Larger series were uncommon until after 1950: Be 4/6 (1923), De 4/4 (1927), BDe 4/4 (1952), RBe 4/4 (1959), RBDe 560 "NPZ" (1984) and RABe 520 " GTW " (2002). The first multiple unit trainsets were bought for
2117-681: The Swiss Federal Railways announced its largest order of rolling stock; buying 59 double-deck EMUs ( Twindexx ) from Bombardier, plus an option for another 100 trainsets. The new trains were originally intended to be delivered starting in 2012, but due to several delays, deliveries began in 2017 and end by 2020. In addition, SBB has received and, as of 2016, is still in the process of delivering, New Pendolinos and has ordered 29 SMILEs , with an option for 92 more, expected to enter service in 2019. SBB uses three official languages: German, French, and Italian. The Romansh -speaking regions in
2190-547: The VSB to search for alternatives for firing their steam locomotives and it secured a large peat deposit in Möggingen near Radolfzell in 1857. Nevertheless, as the railway developed as a means of mass transport, the company gained access to foreign coal deposits. The conversion to coal firing was largely completed at the VSB in 1861. The VSB implemented telegraphic signalling with electrical signal discs invented by Matthäus Hipp in 1865. Carriages and locomotives were converted to
2263-484: The VSB's initial financial problems was that the projected construction costs were far too low, leading to an additional capital requirement of around CHF 20 million. The additional capital was provided by a French financier. The Parisian banker, Isaac Péreire of Crédit Mobilier envisaged an eastern alpine crossing linking the French railway companies of the Chemins de fer du Midi , Chemins de fer de l'Ouest and Chemins de fer de l'Est with railway it had partly funded in
United Swiss Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue
2336-529: The Vonwil train crash, a train coming from Winterthur derailed at Vonwil in St. Gallen on 31 December 1879. The train's two locomotives came to lie on the left and right of the railway track with the carriages pushed into each other. The accident claimed two fatalities and several injuries, some serious. In 1882, the company owned 59 locomotives , 197 passenger cars and 965 freight cars . The rising price of wood forced
2409-696: The age of modern bogie-based locomotives without trailing axles started with the Re 4/4 (1946), followed by the Ae 6/6 (1952), Re 4/4 / Re 4/4 (1964–1971), Re 6/6 (1972), Re 450 (1989) and Re 460 / Re 465 "Lok 2000" (1992–1994). The delivery of the last Re 465 marked the end of the Swiss locomotive industries with the closure of the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works . The Swiss Federal Railways were split into three divisions: Passenger, Freight and Infrastructure, each with independent locomotive supply policies. Because
2482-477: The beginning of 2019. SBB's eight groups manage the company and support the operational business of the divisions with service and support functions. These groups are: The corporation is led in an entrepreneurial manner. A performance agreement between Swiss Federal Railways and the Swiss Confederation defines the requirements and is updated every four years. At the same time the compensation rates per train and track-kilometre are defined. A subsidiary, SBB GmbH ,
2555-621: The canton border near Wöschnau was, on the other hand, given to the Northeastern Railway ( Nordostbahn ; NOB). The line crossed the Jura between Sissach and Olten with gradients of up to 2.6% and passed through the 2.5 km-long Hauenstein Tunnel from Läufelfingen to Trimbach , Switzerland's longest tunnel at the time. Cost overruns and building delays of more than a year brought the SCB close to bankruptcy. CHF 4 million of investment aid from
2628-402: The canton of Grisons of Switzerland is served mostly by the Rhaetian Railway . Trains are branded "SBB CFF FFS". Stations are named and signposted exclusively in the language of the locality. Stations of bilingual cities are named and signposted in both local languages (e.g. Biel/Bienne and Fribourg/Freiburg). The timetable only uses such official names regardless of the languages of
2701-448: The cities was reduced to under one hour, resulting in good connections from these stations for most trains. Some connections between cities got two trains in each direction per hour or more, and the S-Bahn services were intensified to four or more trains per hour. Because of these changes 90% of the timetable was changed, 12% more trains were scheduled and travel times generally improved. It was
2774-543: The construction costs of the discontinued lines. In 1881, the unrealised Waterfalls Railway cost the SCB the deposit of CHF 125 000 that it had paid for the concession. The construction of the Waldenburg Railway was left to a special undertaking. The SCB had more success with the joint ventures with the NOB. The SCB together with the NOB built the Bötzberg Railway from Pratteln to Brugg AG from 1871 to 1875 and
2847-649: The country serving Swiss cities such as Interlaken , Bern , Basel , Zurich , and Chur . Under the name TGV Lyria the French railway company SNCF operates TGV connections to Switzerland. Lyria SAS, a company established under French law, is a subsidiary of the French National Railway Company, SNCF, which owns 74%, and the Swiss Federal Railways, which owns 26%. TGV Lyria serves several Swiss cities including Geneva , Lausanne , Basel, Zurich, Bern, and Interlaken. It also provides services to certain locations including Brig ( Valais ), especially during
2920-466: The country's major agglomerations, the range of services (in Switzerland) of which is located between InterRegio (IR) (inter-regional) and EuroCity (EC). Swiss Central Railway The Swiss Central Railway ( Schweizerische Centralbahn ; SCB or S.C.B. ) was one of the five major private railway companies of Switzerland. The SCB with a track length of 332 kilometres was integrated into
2993-461: The country, such as the BLS , one of its main competitors, to provide fully integrated timetables with cyclic schedules . SBB was ranked first among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for its intensity of use, quality of service, and safety rating. While many rail operators in continental Europe have emphasised the building of high-speed rail , SBB has invested in
United Swiss Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue
3066-418: The detour via Aarburg. However, the raising of additional funds was difficult due to the economic crisis and led to significant restrictions on the construction program. The construction of the Waterfalls Railway and the Langenthal–Wauwil line, in which CHF 3.5 million had already been invested, had to be abandoned. The payment of dividends was discontinued and the net income of 2 ½ years was used to write off
3139-515: The distance measurement of the railway lines prescribed by the Federal Government. From the starting point in Olten, the SCB measured line distances in hours. However, the stone never marked kilometre 0 for the SCB. When the old Swiss measures were metricised in 1877, the Central Railway changed the distance designation of its railway lines. Since then, the metric chainage of the SCB lines has had its starting point in Basel. The SCB built its main workshop at Olten station around 1855. This, in addition to
3212-555: The entire power supply. In the same year, the Swiss Federal Railways received the Wakker Prize , an award given out by the Swiss Heimatschutz (an institution aiming to preserve significant buildings), which is usually only granted to communes, for their extraordinary efforts. The Swiss Federal Railways have many listed buildings from well-known architects such as Herzog & de Meuron , Santiago Calatrava , and Max Vogt . In May 2010, SBB's first integrated network control centre opened in Lausanne , to supervise all of SBB's network in
3285-429: The federal government and bonds worth CHF 12 million from Basel and Stuttgart banks secured further funding in 1857. SCB was able to build lines from Basel via Liestal and Olten to Bern , Aarau , Thun , Biel/Bienne and Lucerne . In 1858, after the construction of the Schanzen tunnel, the SCB network was connected with the NOB network at Aarau. In 1860, SCB's network connected on the cantonal border near Bern with
3358-440: The four cable Amsteg - Steinen power line due to construction work. So, the power grid was split in two parts, the northern half being overloaded and the southern half having a load reduction for the SBB power plants are situated in the southern part (the Alps ), while most of the power is needed in the northern part (the Swiss plateau ). The situation led to high voltage fluctuations and finally breakdown and emergency shutdown of
3431-442: The full minute. Secondly, all the clocks at a railway station have to run synchronously in order to show reliable time for both passengers and railway personnel anywhere on or around the station. The station clocks in Switzerland are synchronized by receiving an electrical impulse from a central master clock at each full minute, advancing the minute hand by one minute. The second hand is driven by an electrical motor independent of
3504-410: The greatest timetable change since the introduction of the Taktfahrplan . For this change to be possible, large parts of the infrastructure had to be modified and many stations were rebuilt, for instance the line from Ziegelbrücke to Sargans or Bern main station which got the "wave of Bern", a platform over the tracks to provide better access to the platforms and the city centre. On 22 June 2005
3577-600: The highly profitable Bötzberg Railway. Also, the initially loss-making Southern Railway produced abundant profits from 1882, half of which were paid to the SCB. As early as 1873, SCB was again able to pay dividends to shareholders, which reached nine or more percent of the capital value of shares between 1898 and 1900. These high payments to shareholders shortly before the nationalisation did not meet with approval everywhere. The railway crisis caused many domestic shareholders to sell their shares to domestic and foreign banks. The railway shares played an important role in speculation on
3650-449: The introduction of the Taktfahrplan on the line Zürich–Meilen–Rapperswil in 1967: RABDe 12/12 "Mirage" (1965) and RABDe 8/16 "Chiquita" (1976). Multiple unit trainsets started to prevail in the 1990s, especially for commuter traffic: RABDe 500 "ICN" (1999), RABe 523 (et al.) " FLIRT " (2004), RABe 514 "DTZ" (2006), and RABe 503 (2008). While locomotive-hauled trains are rarely seen in commuter traffic nowadays, they are still
3723-411: The leadership of Adolf Klose , mechanical engineering achievements and locomotive designs were created at the Rorschach workshop that received attention and recognition. As part of merger negotiations, the VSB was able to acquire the concession for the realisation of the Bözberg railway line on 16 July 1857. The VSB abandoned this concession in 1864 due to lack of financial resources. The VSB managed
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#17328588194063796-522: The line Seebach – Wettingen together with the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO), using the future Ce 4/4 locomotives ("Eva" and "Marianne"). The electrification of the network started 1919, motivated by the coal shortages during the First World War , and new electric locomotives were introduced: Ce 6/8 / Ce 6/8 "Crocodile" (1920–1926), Be 4/6 (1920), Be 4/7 (1921), Ae 3/6 (1921), Ae 3/6 (1924), Ae 3/6 (1925), Ae 4/7 (1927) and Ae 4/6 (1941). A shift of paradigms happened in 1946, when
3869-474: The line of the NOB ran next to the VSB's line between Rorschach Hafen (harbour) and Rorschach. The Lake Line of the NOB and the Bischofszellerbahn 's Gossau – Sulgen line, which was commissioned in 1876, relieved the VSB of some traffic. When the NOB opened the shorter Lake Zürich left bank railway (Zürich– Thalwil –Ziegelbrücke) in 1875, the former Wallisellen–Rapperswil line lost importance. The VSB could only continue operations with extreme cost cutting. Under
3942-404: The lines of the former VSB. The kilometre measurements still start in Sargans, where kilometre 0 is located. Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (German: Schweizerische Bundesbahnen , SBB ; French: Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses , CFF ; Italian: Ferrovie federali svizzere , FFS ) is the national railway company of Switzerland . The company, founded in 1902,
4015-539: The master clock. It requires only about 58.5 seconds to circle the face, then the hand pauses briefly at the top of the clock. It starts a new rotation as soon as it receives the next minute impulse from the master clock. This movement is emulated in some of the licensed timepieces made by Mondaine . Steam engines of the early days of the Swiss Federal Railways were, among others, the Ed 2x2/2 , E 3/3 , A 3/5 , B 3/4 and C 5/6 . The first electric trial runs using single-phase alternating current were made in 1903 on
4088-487: The music correspond to the acronyms SBB CFF FFS, transposed by means of the German notes "Es - B - B" (E ♭ , B ♭ , B ♭ ), "C - F - F" (C, F, F) and "F - F - Es" (F, F, E ♭ ). For the German acronym, as there is no "S" note, the "Es" was used. And for the last letter, it is the B ♭ /G ♭ chord that is played. The melody is played on a vibraphone . The melody played depends on which canton (or country onboard international services)
4161-440: The operation of some other companies, such as the Toggenburgerbahn (TB, opened in 1870), the Wald-Rüti-Bahn (WR, opened in 1876 and now part of the Tösstal Railway ) and temporarily the Zürichsee–Gotthardbahn (ZGB). The VSB was also financially involved in the Toggenburgerbahn and the Wald–Rüti-Bahn. Until the 1870s, the VSB suffered from lack of international connections. The Vorarlberg Railway ( Vorarlbergbahn ; VB) opened
4234-401: The pre-recorded local language of the town. For stations of bilingual cities, the language of announcement changes at the time of stop: when trains travelling from the French-speaking region to the German-speaking region via the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne , announcements are made in French until arriving at Bienne, and then switch to German after departing from Biel. Upon arriving at big hubs,
4307-541: The reliability and quality of service of its conventional rail network, on both national and regional scales. In addition to passenger rail, SBB operates cargo and freight rail service, through its subsidiary SBB Cargo , and has large real estate holdings in Switzerland. The company is commonly referred to by the initials of its three official names (in German, French, Italian) – defined by federal law SR/RS 742.31 (SBBG/LCFF/LFFS) Art. 2 §1 – either as SBB CFF FFS , or used separately. The official English abbreviation
4380-499: The shape of a cross with its centre at Olten . Its intention was to forestall Zürich interests who wanted to build a line via Turgi to Waldshut on the Baden bank of the Rhine to Basel. The Canton of Solothurn initially wanted to grant a concession only for the Hauenstein line to Olten. It wanted to ensure that a direct Olten– Solothurn – Biel/Bienne line was built instead of a branch line from Herzogenbuchsee to Solothurn. The issue of concessions for railway lines in Aargau
4453-402: The start of construction of the Gotthard Railway , the Rhine Valley Railway from Rorschach to Chur remained a regional line. Over time, Rorschach was displaced as the leading port town on the Swiss shore of Lake Constance by Romanshorn . The NOB expanded its harbour in Romanshorn and put its own steamboats into operation. In 1869, the NOB opened the Lake Line from Rorschach to Romanshorn, where
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#17328588194064526-585: The station or train is located in, and manual announcements play the three-language melody in the file above. SBB has the following services: Several services are currently operated by other railway companies , including subsidiaries of Swiss Federal Railways (e.g. Thurbo ). Some services are also jointly operated with other companies (e.g. Treno Gottardo ). SBB-CFF-FFS also operates international EuroCity (EC) and EuroNight (EN) trains while within Switzerland, while Deutsche Bahn operates Intercity Express (ICE) services to, from, and (a few services) within
4599-413: The stock market. The new majority of foreign shareholders considered short-term profit maximisation to be the main priority of the company. In 1887 and 1896, the management was replaced by a president who was more comfortable with the banks. On 30 May 1898, a group of track workers employed by the Swiss Central Railway was run over by a passenger train of the Northeastern Railway at the southern exit from
4672-614: The system on 1 January 1902. This date is now observed as the "official" birthday of SBB. The following railway companies were nationalised: Other companies were included later, and the rail network was extended. It is still growing today. On 1 January 1999 the Swiss Federal Railway has been excluded from the Federal Administration and became a fully state-owned (the federal state owns 100% of all shares) limited company regulated by public law (German: Spezialgesetzliche Aktiengesellschaft ). First class compartments were discontinued on 3 June 1956, and second and third class accommodation
4745-399: The timetable. Announcements in stations are usually made in local languages. However, in stations frequently used by foreigners (airports or tourism regions), in-station announcements are also made in English. On-board welcome announcements are made in all official languages of the regions served by that train, with the additional English ones onboard IC trains. Then the stops are announced in
4818-651: The train conductor takes the microphone to announce in all official languages of the regions served by that train (plus English onboard IC trains) that the train is arriving, if the train is on time or not, and next connections at the station. For instance, the main station in the German-speaking Zürich is signposted as Zürich HB (short for Zürich Hauptbahnhof) exclusively in German, while its French name (Zürich gare centrale), Italian name (Zurigo stazione centrale), and English name (Zürich Main Station) are used in websites and announcements in respective languages. Since 2002, SBB has used music in train announcements. The notes in
4891-553: The usual in intercity traffic. In 2011, Stadler's RABe 511 were introduced in Zürich's S-Bahn and in 2012 was introduced as a Regional Express between Geneva and Romont and Geneva and Vevey and Bern and Biel . Some of the most popular historic multiple unit trainsets are the Roten Pfeile ("Red Arrows") ( RAe 2/4 ) and the " Churchill-Pfeil " (RAe 4/8). In international traffic the Trans-Europ-Express (TEE) diesel trainsets appeared in 1957, but were replaced by four-systems electric trainsets RAe TEE in 1961. On 12 May 2010,
4964-413: The usual maintenance work, also produced new locomotives and freight wagons. The modern SBB workshop emerged from the SCB workshop. SCB's annual reports provide information on the rapidly growing volume of rail traffic on the network. The capacity of the Hauenstein line, at that time the only railway connection from the Rhine Valley to the Swiss Plateau , proved inadequate after just a few years. The SCB
5037-487: The winter season, to provide a connection for tourists mainly visiting the south-eastern Swiss Alps. These connections are marketed under the name of TGV Lyria des Neiges . Since 2018, the SBB uses numbers and distinct colors for all its InterCity (IC) and InterRegio (IR) lines (like a subway network) to ease connections. The IC, IR and RE ( RegioExpress ) lines (including alternative routes) are as follows: The InterCity are mainline trains in Switzerland connecting
5110-478: Was also controversial because there was a fight between the interests of Basel and Zürich in this canton. Zürich and Neuchâtel planned a link via Les Verrières to France, competing with the SCB. The canton of Basel-Landschaft refused to issue a concession for a Bötzberg Railway , which caused considerable disagreement in Aargau. Nevertheless, the SCB finally received a concession for the Olten– Murgenthal and Aarburg – Zofingen sections. The section from Aarau to
5183-421: Was founded in 2002. This foundation takes care of historic rolling stock and runs a technical library in Bern, document and photographic archives, and the SBB poster collection. All figures from 2021: The Swiss Federal Railways rail network is totally electrified. The metre gauge Brünigbahn was SBB's only non-standard gauge line, until it was out-sourced and merged with the Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn to form
5256-479: Was of vital importance for supplying Switzerland with imported goods such as grain or coal. As a result goods traffic was large and grew steadily. The improvement in the company’s financial situation, led to calls for further expansions of its network. From 1872, the Swiss National Railway ( Schweizerische Nationalbahn ; SNB) tried to establish competition with the existing railway companies with
5329-545: Was reclassified as first and second class, respectively. In 1982 SBB introduced the Taktfahrplan ( clock-face schedule ), with trains for certain destinations leaving every 60 minutes, greatly simplifying the timetable. On 12 December 2004 the first phase of Bahn2000, an ambitious programme to improve the company's services, was put into effect. The core element was the Zürich - Bern - Basel triangle, where travel times between
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