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Switzerland

 

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CEVA: Connecting Switzerland and France

5 August 2014 | By Antoine Da Trindade, Managing Director for CEVA

CEVA is the acronym for the 16km-long Cornavin–Eaux-Vives–Annemasse rail link project connecting Switzerland and France. It is a project stepped in history which dates back as long ago as 1850. Following many false starts, political disagreements, citizen complaints and objections which went all the way to the Swiss Federal Administrative…

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Gotthard and Ceneri base tunnels on target

1 August 2013 | By Renzo Simoni, CEO, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd

Work on the Gotthard and Ceneri base tunnels is on course. In the Gotthard Base Tunnel between Erstfeld and Sedrun, the ballastless railway track has been laid in both tubes. In total, 45% of the railway infrastructure systems have been installed. A pilot operation between Faido and the south portal…

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Tailored timetabling at SBB

1 August 2013 | By Helga Labermeier, Scientific Specialist, Timetable Planning Department, SBB Infrastructure

The Swiss are world champions of rail travel. Every day, approximately 10,000 trains travel on Switzerland’s standard-gauge network which covers just over 3,665km. They take almost a million people to their destinations – safely and punctually – and transport 200,000 tonnes of freight. These impressive figures are unequalled anywhere else…

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Swiss rail construction projects on track – in cities, through the Alps and across borders

1 August 2012 | By Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure and Raffael Hirt, Communications Manager for the Zurich Cross-City Link, SBB Infrastructure

Throughout 2012, SBB Infrastructure is undertaking a number of construction projects across Switzerland: in the two largest Swiss cities, Zurich and Geneva, in the St. Gallen and Schaffhausen conurbations, in the canton of Ticino, in the Alps, and even beyond Switzerland’s borders. This article presents an overview of the major…

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Gotthard railway systems now being installed and the Ceneri is on course

1 August 2012 | By Renzo Simoni, CEO, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd

Since the second final breakthrough on 23 March 2011, fitting-out of the Gotthard Base Tunnel has made rapid progress, and since September 2011, installation of the railway systems has been taking place from the north. Elsewhere in the Ceneri Base Tunnel, work has begun on the main drives from the…

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Capacity is more important than speed

4 August 2011 | By Peter Füglistaler, Director of the Federal Office of Transport, Switzerland

No country has better train and bus services than Switzerland. But recent increases in passenger numbers are stretching the system to its limits, especially at peak travel periods. Switzerland has therefore set clear priorities for future rail expansion: to increase capacity through longer, more frequent trains. Reductions in journey times…

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Driving under the Gotthard complete and the Ceneri is on course

4 August 2011 | By Renzo Simoni, CEO, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd

On 23 March 2011, between Faido and Sedrun in Switzerland, miners excavated the last metres of rock of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Both single-track tubes are therefore now continuously bored over their full length of 57 kilometres. In the Ceneri Base tunnel, the main drives from the Sigirino intermediate heading,…

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Gotthard and Ceneri take major steps forward

4 August 2010 | By Renzo Simoni, CEO, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd

Construction of the new Gotthard line with the Gotthard and Ceneri Base Tunnels is on course. In October 2010, a further milestone will be the final breakthrough of the Gotthard: the miners will excavate the last stretch of rock between the portals at Erstfeld and Bodio/Pollegio. On the Ceneri, in…

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Construction of cross-city link helps relieve capacity limits

4 August 2010 | By Marco Ceriani, Line Section Manager for the Weinberg Tunnel, SBB Infrastructure

Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Zurich main station, or Zurich HB) is the central hub for rail traffic in Switzerland. Trains pull in and out of the station virtually every minute, and over 300,000 passengers depart, arrive or change trains here daily. Commuter traffic is forecast to grow in the coming years, and…

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Taking the ‘action not reaction’ future approach

4 August 2010 | By Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure and Member of the SBB Management Board

Most of the SBB rail network is in good condition. That was the conclusion of an external survey commissioned by SBB and published in February 2010. Future maintenance and renewal of the rail infrastructure will cost significantly more than was previously assumed. SBB Infrastructure has embarked on a comprehensive action…

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Swiss transport policy: top quality service thanks to modern infrastructure

21 July 2009 | By Max Friedli, Director, Federal Office of Transport, Switzerland

On 20 February 1994, a major political surprise occurred when, against all expectations, the Swiss voting population agreed upon a popular initiative to protect the Alps from transit traffic. This popular decision set the tone for a new Swiss transport policy. From then on, the goal of shifting freight transport…

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In the view of Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure

21 July 2009 | By Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure

Mr. Philippe Gauderon took up his new position as Head of SBB Infrastructure and Member of the SBB Management Board at the start of 2009. After studying law at the University of Fribourg, Mr. Gauderon initially worked as a lawyer until 1985. Between 1985 and 1995, he held numerous senior…