Parliament increases funding for rail expansion
Published: Monday, Feb 26th 2024, 18:01
Updated At: Monday, Feb 26th 2024, 18:01
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Parliament is spending more money on rail expansion than requested by the Federal Council. On Monday, the National Council agreed with the Council of States when discussing changes to the 2025 and 2035 rail expansion steps. The corresponding credits will be increased by a total of CHF 350 million.
In the overall vote on Monday, the National Council approved all four federal resolutions with only one vote against each. The business is therefore ready for the final vote.
The Federal Council adopted its dispatch on rail expansion in August last year. It requested a further CHF 2.6 billion from the rail infrastructure fund from Parliament.
Tunnel between Lausanne and Geneva
Among other things, this involves the construction of a nine-kilometre railroad tunnel between Morges VD and Perroy VD on the Lausanne - Geneva line. According to current planning, this project alone will lead to additional costs of around 1.3 billion Swiss francs. The tunnel should be completed by 2035 or 2040 at the latest.
There are also plans to widen the Lötschberg base tunnel to two tracks throughout instead of just partially. The national government also decided to increase credit for the Brüttener Tunnel and the expansion of Zurich-Stadelhofen station. In addition, it intends to make funds available for a comprehensive expansion of the Geneva and Olten SO railroad stations.
The Council of States dealt with the matter in the winter session. At the request of its Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF-S), it decided to increase the credit by a further CHF 250 million. Among other things, the funds will be used to continue the planning for the unbundling in Pratteln BL, the expansion of Ebikon LU railroad station and the realization of the Morgartenring in Basel.
The small chamber also increased the credits for the project planning of the Tiefenwinkel double-track expansion on the Zurich-Chur axis and for studies on Western Switzerland. In order to prevent further timetable deterioration in western Switzerland, additional projects worth CHF 100 million are to be included there.
Finally, in the winter session, the Council of States approved CHF 100 million for preliminary investment in the Meilibach Tunnel at the request of a minority of the committee. This will one day connect the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel underground with the Thalwil ZH - Pfäffikon SZ line.
Finance Committee also agrees
The majority of the National Council's Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF-N) agreed with the Federal Council's proposals and the resolutions of the Council of States.
For them, the importance of the individual measures for the development of the affected regions is paramount, they wrote in a press release at the end of January. As the measures are financed via the railroad infrastructure fund, there are no financial policy arguments against implementing the measures. The Finance Committee also raised no objections.
The inclusion of further projects in western Switzerland with the aim of preventing timetable deterioration was controversial in the preliminary consultation in the National Council committee and in the debate on Monday. A minority of the committee opposed the corresponding credit increase of CHF 100 million, but did not find a majority in the Council.
French-speaking Switzerland as the "poor relation"
The Council of States and the majority of the Commission wanted to spend CHF 100 million in a place where there were no projects ready for implementation, criticized Christian Imark (SVP/SO) on behalf of the minority. He said that this would not combat the dissatisfaction in French-speaking Switzerland, for which he had sympathy.
Imark received support from the GLP parliamentary group. Transport Minister Albert Rösti also argued that it made no sense to block funds unnecessarily in view of the next dispatch on rail expansion in 2026.
Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini (Greens/GE) disagreed, saying that western Switzerland was now the "poor relation". Commission spokesperson Michael Töngi (Greens/LU) emphasized that it was about a long-term perspective - namely that the deterioration caused by the 2025 timetable would not be perpetuated.
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