Switzerland’s government has unveiled the strategic framework for Transport ’45, a long-term plan to shape the country’s rail, road and urban transport networks through to 2045. Although branded as intermodal, Transport ’45 is fundamentally a rail-first plan, prioritising capacity and frequency while cutting back on weaker projects. Here’s how the two-decade plan breaks down.
Switzerland’s government has unveiled the strategic framework for Transport ’45, a long-term plan to shape the country’s rail, road and urban transport networks through to 2045. Although branded as intermodal, Transport ’45 is fundamentally a rail-first plan, prioritising capacity and frequency while cutting back on weaker projects.
Presenting the plan in Bern on Wednesday, Federal Councillor Albert Rösti framed Transport ’45 as a generational exercise rather than a routine infrastructure update. “Transport projects have to be planned decades in advance if they are to be available when they are actually needed,” he said. “That is why it is our task today to secure transport policy for the next generation.”
The framework draws heavily on an expert review from Swiss university ETH Zurich, commissioned after rail expansion costs ballooned and Swiss voters rejected parts of the national motorway programme in 2023. According to Rösti, the review showed that Switzerland had reached the limits of incremental planning. Implementing the previously agreed 2035 rail service concept in full would cost at least CHF 14bn (€15.26bn) more than budgeted, unless priorities were reset.
The response is Transport ’45: for the first time, Switzerland will bundle rail, road and urban transport expansion into a single consultation package, backed by a new financing push and tighter rules on which projects make the cut.
Near-term rail capacity gains
In the short to medium term, the Federal Council is proposing targeted rail upgrades designed to deliver tangible timetable improvements by the mid-2030s:
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By 2030: improved connections on the Biel/Bienne–Lausanne–Geneva corridor, including significant works around Renens.
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By 2035 (≈ CHF 3bn / €3.27bn):
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15-minute services between Zurich and Bern
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30-minute services on Bern–Lucerne and Basel–Zurich
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Systematic half-hourly regional services across the Swiss Plateau
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Further options under review include denser regional services between Geneva and Lausanne, higher frequencies between Bellinzona and Locarno, and longer trains enabled by extended platforms on the Zurich S-Bahn
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Christa Hostettler, director of the Federal Office of Transport, said the aim was to refocus rail expansion around customer benefit and deliverable steps. “In future, only mature projects will be submitted to Parliament for approval,” she said. “This focus is essential if we want to plan services, projects and costs more reliably again.”
Megaprojects, but sequenced
Looking further ahead to a 2045 horizon, the Federal Council endorsed a set of major rail schemes broadly aligned with ETH Zurich’s recommendations. These include:
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Neuchâtel–La Chaux-de-Fonds direct line
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Expansion of Geneva Cornavin and Basel SBB
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Zimmerberg Base Tunnel II
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A fourth track at Zurich Stadelhofen
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Lucerne through-station (phase one)
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The Grimsel Tunnel, conditional on integration with an existing power transmission line and proactive regional development planning
Together, these projects carry a price tag of at least CHF 10bn (€10.9bn). A further CHF 7bn (€7.64bn) of projects, including the Morges–Perroy line and Lucerne through-station phase two, are earmarked for submission to Parliament in 2031.
At the same time, the government is explicitly preparing to walk away from some previously approved schemes. The Swiss transport ministry, DETEC, will use the June 2026 consultation to identify which rail projects should be postponed or abandoned outright.
Funding rail, and tightening the rules
Central to Transport ’45 is the decision to seek an extension of the VAT surcharge that feeds the Rail Infrastructure Fund (BIF) beyond its current 2030 expiry. The Federal Council estimates this would generate around CHF 8bn (€8.72bn) in additional rail funding by 2045.
“Extending the VAT surcharge is a prerequisite if rail infrastructure is not only to be renewed, but also expanded,” Hostettler said. The extension would require parliamentary approval and a public vote.
Alongside funding, the government is imposing stricter delivery rules. Projects must reach a defined preliminary design stage before entering an expansion phase, and greater flexibility in technical standards is expected to curb cost escalation.
Digitalisation also plays a central role. Rösti confirmed that CHF 2bn (€2.18bn) has been reserved for digital rail systems, with the explicit aim of unlocking capacity on existing infrastructure. “The goal is to use existing lines more efficiently and increase capacity without additional major construction,” he said, pointing to ERTMS-enabled shorter headways as a key lever.
What happens next, and what changes in how Switzerland builds rail
Transport ’45 now moves into a formal consultation phase, with DETEC due to publish the draft by end-June 2026. After that, the Federal Council plans to submit a message to Parliament in early 2027, with parliamentary consideration through 2027 and — if the process holds — a public vote as early as 2028, tied to the VAT mechanism that underpins the rail funding envelope.
The sequencing is important because the government is explicitly coupling the investment pipeline to financing legitimacy. In the Q&A, Rösti made clear that Transport ’45 is being designed as a coherent package rather than a menu of standalone schemes; if voters or Parliament reject the VAT extension, the rail programme would have to be reprioritised. “It would be difficult to say already now which project we would not build, because it is an overall strategy — a coherent package,” he said, adding that without approval, “we would have to discuss again, prioritise again, and make a new proposal.”
At the same time, the consultation will be where DETEC spells out the politically sensitive part Switzerland has so far only signalled: which previously approved projects should be delayed or dropped. Hostettler also indicated that the Federal Council will use the June consultation to decide which elements of the 2030 and 2035 service concepts are still required, which can be pushed back, and which may be abandoned.
The shift is also about how projects advance through the system. Rösti said the government wants to stop approving ideas that later explode in cost, and instead force delivery discipline earlier in the pipeline. “Project costs must align with budgets. We have to develop a ‘design-to-cost’ approach,” he said.
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