Billion-euro hole at SBB "If you build like this, you shouldn't be surprised"

Guido Schoch from Swiss Railvolution said it - but nobody wanted to hear it: According to the expert, the 14-billion-euro hole in the SBB expansion is no accident. Find out the reasons for the disaster here.

Mr. and Mrs. Swiss, but also many politicians, are flabbergasted. The expansion of the rail infrastructure by 2035 is now set to cost CHF 30.4 billion instead of CHF 16.4 billion. Even the President of the National Council's Transport Committee did not expect this. "I am honestly very shocked by these cost increases," says Philipp Kutter on SRF.

He continued: "I'm used to having to accept certain cost increases. But I never expected this extent." Fabian Peter speaks of a "big shock": "You can't just accept it and leave it at that," says the President of the Swiss Public Transport Directors from the FDP.

Guido Schoch, on the other hand, is not particularly surprised by the latest bad news: the former director of the Zurich transport company is not only a member of the central board of Pro Bahn Schweiz, but also one of the vice presidents of the Swiss Railvolution association.

Schoch criticizes "lobbying" by the cantons

Schoch saw the disaster coming. "Investments are not being made where there is the greatest customer benefit, but mainly where the cantons are lobbying the best and shouting the loudest," the rail fan says in the "4x4 Podcast", criticizing the expansion plans.

"Politicians must finally realize that they don't have to discuss infrastructure first, but rather services. Construction must take place where the service offers the greatest customer benefit. Nobody would build a house without knowing exactly what they need it for," says Schoch, annoyed.

The Zurich resident criticizes the lack of a "nationwide, long-term, consistent supply concept". This must also think beyond the planned period up to 2035. The current plan is a "patchwork" where the motto is "more and more of the same".

No real overall concept?

SBB argues that various project adjustments would have to be made due to the time it would take to complete the expansion, which would subsequently drive up costs. "But that brings us right to the point," says Schoch.

He points to what he sees as a lack of long-term planning, which is then also based on "isolated individual projects". SBB is trying to achieve its goals for 2035 with "paving stones". "We really need a concept for the whole of Switzerland, for example on the east-west axis."

What does Schock mean in concrete terms? "They're expanding the station there, they're planning a tunnel between Zurich and Aarau, but we don't know what will happen in the subsequent bottleneck of Olten. If you build like this, you're either building too much or too little, but certainly not the right thing."

"Every canton wants to get as much out of it as possible"

Other examples include the planned underground stations in Basel and Lucerne. Together, these would cost "around 15 billion" francs, says the manager. The above-mentioned tunnel is estimated to cost seven billion francs. "But all of these projects are not included in a proposal for the whole of Switzerland," warns Schoch.

"Once again, we are demanding infrastructure before we know what the requirements are. If you build like this, you shouldn't be surprised when the costs get out of hand," continues the former banker. He calls for a scientific study to be carried out to determine neutrally which measures are really necessary.

His association Swiss Railvolution and he had already drawn attention to the problems beforehand. "Too little or no attention was paid," admits the former VBZ boss. And now "politicians are sitting in front of the big pot for the expansion project, which apparently has a lot of money in it, and every canton is trying to get as much out of it as possible for itself".

"Speed is a real market advantage"

Despite large investments, the rail share is stagnating compared to the road. According to Schoch, the main advantages of rail are speed and space efficiency. "Speed is a real market advantage over road. The frequency merely mitigates the system disadvantage: I can leave at any time by car and don't have to wait for the train."

More trains at shorter intervals would also mean higher costs in terms of personnel and materials. More speed, on the other hand, would increase productivity and save costs. On the other hand, increasing the frequency of trains would make the timetable more complex and would also result in higher infrastructure costs.

And now? National Councillor Kutter wants to invite Albert Rösti and the SBB management to the Transport Committee to discuss the expansion.

There is a lot to talk about.