🇨🇭 InfraIndex #12: Switzerland pivots to rail-first strategy under Verkehr ’45, drops 30+ motorway projects

On 28 January 2026, the Swiss Federal Council adopted the key parameters of Verkehr ’45, a long-term transport infrastructure strategy extending to 2045, marking a decisive shift toward rail capacity expansion and selective road investment. For the first time in the country’s history, rail, road and urban transport are being presented in a single, integrated federal proposal, with public consultation scheduled for June 2026. The plan prioritises major rail upgrades including improved Biel–Lausanne–Geneva connections by 2030, quarter-hourly services between Zurich and Bern by 2035, and flagship projects such as the Lucerne through-station and the Grimsel rail tunnel. At the same time, more than 30 motorway projects, representing around CHF 18 billion, are proposed to be scrapped, following technical reassessment and voter rejection of large road widenings.

The strategy reflects a structural reallocation of capital toward rail as Switzerland’s primary capacity and resilience lever. Up to CHF 24 billion is earmarked for rail expansion by 2045, conditional on extending the VAT surcharge funding the Rail Infrastructure Fund (BIF) beyond 2030, while road investment is increasingly limited to targeted bottleneck relief rather than network expansion. For European trade and transit flows, this matters because Switzerland sits at the core of north–south rail freight corridors through the Alps, where capacity gains depend more on timetable density, node upgrades and tunnel reliability than on new alignments. The decision to cancel large motorway expansions while reinforcing rail infrastructure underscores Switzerland’s role as a rail-centric transit country, with implications for long-term freight routing, cross-border coordination and CO₂ reduction across Alpine corridors.