A front view of Swiss Railways passenger train 521 025-7 - 2009 Alf van Beem.

30 March 2011

Rail Passengers Grow While Earnings Dip

Bern Switzerland - Swiss Federal Railways transported record number of passengers in 2010, but it has appealed for investment after seeing earnings drop by nearly 20 percent.
 
Passenger numbers were up six percent to 347 million in 2010, with profits from passenger services rising from CH 280.6 million to CH 292.6 million.
 
SBB Cargo also saw a 12 percent rise in transported merchandise.
 
Despite this, earnings fell to CH 298.3 million in 2010 as a result of investment in the group's pension fund and infrastructure.
 
Ulrich Gygi, head of the board of directors, said:  "By 2050, CH 40 billion needs to be invested in the running, maintenance, and expansion of the railway network. To do this, it is imperative to find more resources."
 
During the year, Federal Railways properties generated CH 246.7 million, of which CH 79.2 was used to boost the pension fund and another CH 150 million was ploughed into infrastructure.
 
SBB Cargo suffered a year-end loss of CH 64 million, slightly more than the loss in 2009 of CH 62.5 million.
 
In 2010, 87 percent of trains arrived on time or with a delay of under three minutes.
 
Following the five percent rise in prices in December, the group expects to introduce an annual three percent rise in the years to come.