FOT Director counters criticism of rail expansion: costs are covered
Published: Sunday, Jun 16th 2024, 03:10
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The Director of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) has countered criticism of the expansion of the rail infrastructure: "The costs for operation and maintenance - including follow-up investment costs - will still be covered in 2040," said Peter Füglistaler.
The maintenance costs would then take up around two thirds of the railroad infrastructure fund. The remainder would be available for expansion, said the outgoing FOT Director in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. "Nobody wants to cut these resources, the fund is very solidly financed."
However, Füglistaler said that there are restrictions on new projects outside of the expansion approved by Parliament as part of the 2035 service concept. "Further requests relating to new projects that have not yet been approved cannot be realized until 2033. Only then will financial resources be available for further expansion projects."
Füglistaler: There is a shortage of skilled workers
It is not primarily a lack of money: "There is simply a lack of resources, such as skilled workers. In addition, the rail network cannot cope with any more construction sites. Otherwise punctuality will suffer even more. On the other hand, every one of the expansion projects already approved in parliament is important," says Füglistaler.
The FOT Director does not believe in the expansion moratorium called for by former SBB boss Benedikt Weibel, among others. "If we do that, public transport will ruin its future. The trains are already full today," said Füglistaler. With the expansion, 20 percent more seats would be available and the timetable would be compressed. The fact that some connections will be somewhat slower is irrelevant in view of the additional connections and more modern trains. "Public transport always increased its market share when we expanded the service," says Füglistaler.
The increase in rail capacity by a quarter proposed by the group of experts led by Weibel, without any expansions, also ignores freight traffic. "The 25 percent additional capacity would result if freight traffic, which only travels within Switzerland, were removed from the railways," said the FOT Director. "Companies such as Coop, Migros, Fenaco or Holcim would not be able to handle their transport volumes exclusively by road."
Füglistaler: Road is too cheap
According to Füglistaler, in order to achieve a shift away from the road, the price ratios also need to be addressed. "The road is and will remain very attractive in terms of costs. If this point is not addressed, the market share of public transport will only grow to a limited extent." He sees mobility pricing as a possible solution - although he admits that this has no chance politically.
In general, however, ticket sales should be "massively" simplified, said Füglistaler. More flexible, cheaper offers for those who only use the train sporadically are needed. One-way tickets are currently "prohibitively expensive". However, the FOT Director opposed free public transport: "Mobility is currently too cheap on all modes of transport. If we want to cope with the increase in traffic and protect the climate at the same time, all modes of transport must become more expensive."
©Keystone/SDA
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