SBB wants to test the converted FV-Dosto train in 2025
Published: Friday, Dec 27th 2024, 06:20
Retour au fil d'actualité
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) wants to test a converted FV-Dosto train on long-distance services in 2025. As SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot explained in an interview with the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung", the prototype is intended to ensure a smoother journey.
Ducrot admitted mistakes in the procurement of the FV-Dosto, in particular that the expectations of the trains had been too high. "The train we got is not the train we ordered. There were over a thousand subsequent adjustments. That is a lesson for us," says Ducrot. He estimated the conversion costs for the 62 double-decker trains to be in the high double-digit millions.
Ducrot also spoke about the additional costs of CHF 14 billion for the rail infrastructure by 2035, which had become necessary due to changes in standards and requirements. "Today we have better measurement and simulation methods. They show that robust and stable operation is not possible with the increased train density," said Ducrot.
Changes in passenger flows would also mean that stations such as Neuchâtel or Bülach would have to be rebuilt by 2050. According to Ducrot, the platforms will have to be adapted for longer trains as frequencies increase. Other factors include the implementation of the ETCS train control system, which will lead to adapted braking curves, as well as the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.
New quarter and half-hourly intervals
The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) also emphasized the necessity of the measures at the end of November. For example, the rail expansion step 2035 will enable new quarter and half-hourly frequencies on around sixty routes and increase the number of seats by around twenty percent.
For freight transport, a nationwide express network for time-critical goods such as parcels or food is also planned. According to the FOT, all of this is necessary in order to cope with the growing demand for mobility and transportation.
The additional costs of CHF 14 billion over a period of twenty years were calculated by the FOT and SBB at a technical level. The revised 2035 service concept is now being reviewed internally and externally.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic