Rail transport in Switzerland is noteworthy for the density of its network, its coordination between services, its integration with other modes of transport, timeliness and a thriving domestic and trans-Alp freight system. It is made necessary by strong regulations on truck transport, and is enabled by properly coordinated intermodal logistics.
With network length, Switzerland has a dense railway network, and is the clear European leader in kilometres traveled: per inhabitant and year (2019). Worldwide, only the Japanese travel more by train.
Virtually 100% of its network is electrified, except for the few tracks on which steam locomotives operate for tourism purposes only. There are 74 railway companies in Switzerland. The share of commuters who travel to work using public transport (as the primary mode of transport) is 30%. The share of rail in goods transport performance by road and rail (modal split) is 39%.
Switzerland was ranked first among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for its intensity of use, quality of service and strong safety rating. Switzerland had excellent intensity of use, notably driven by passenger traffic, a good rating for quality of service, and an excellent rating for safety. Switzerland captured high value in return for public investment with cost to performance ratios that outperform the average ratio for all European countries.
Passenger trains have two travel classes: 1st class, sometimes with larger windows (e.g. in the Gotthard Panorama Express), and 2nd class. Long-distance trains feature an on-board restaurant (or at least a vending machine) in the middle of the train and sometimes a "kids area" at one end of the train. Rail and most other modes of public transport operate under clock-face scheduling. There is a national integrated ticketing system for rail, bus and other modes of transport, grouped in tariff networks. The Swiss Travel Pass facilitates travel by train, bus and boat for tourists.
Switzerland is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Switzerland is 85.
Standard-gauge railways
Three quarters of the Swiss rail network is at standard-gauge, comprising , administered mostly by three companies. Important railway stations are the Zürich HB (398,300 passengers per day in 2023), Bern (175,400 ppd), Lucerne (99,400 ppd), Winterthur (99,100 ppd), Basel SBB (98,600 ppd), Lausanne (96,700 ppd), Zürich Oerlikon (82,200 ppd), and Geneva (79,500 ppd). The main operators of the standard gauge railway lines are Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), BLS, and Südostbahn (SOB). Other standard gauge operators are CJ, SZU, TPF and TransN.
Swiss Federal Railways
Swiss Federal Railways (, , ) is the largest railway company in Switzerland and handles most of national and international traffic. It operates the central east–west track in the Swiss Plateau area serving all larger Swiss cities and many smaller ones, and the north–south routes through the Alps via the Gotthard Line through the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Milano-Chiasso-Lugano-Luzern/Zürich-Basel line) and the Simplon Tunnel (Domodossola to Brig-Lausanne-Geneva line). It operates most long-distance services, including EuroCity (EC), InterCity (IC, domestic only), InterRegio (IR) and RegioExpress (RE) services. SBB and its subsidiaries (e.g. Thurbo, RegionAlps) also runs many Regio (R) and S-Bahn (S) lines. Its subsidiary SBB GmbH operates regional trains serving stations in Germany, including two lines located entirely in Germany, near the border with Switzerland. SBB Cargo handles freight operations.
Total route length: .
BLS
The BLS AG (short for Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon) operates 10% of the Swiss standard-gauge network. It manages the second major Alpine route (Bern-Brig), via both Lötschberg tunnels (base and summit) and connection at with SBB's Simplon Tunnel to Italy. BLS operates InterRegio (IR), RegioExpress (RE, one service extends to Italy) and Regio (R) services. It also operates S-Bahn (S) trains for Bern S-Bahn and Lucerne S-Bahn. Freight trains are operated by its subsidiary BLS Cargo.
Total route length: .
SOB
The Schweizerische Südostbahn AG (SOB) owns railway lines in Central and Eastern Switzerland. It operates services over its own network and lines owned by SBB, partly as joint-ventures. Since the early 1990s, it operates a long-distance service between ( until 2013) and under the name Voralpen Express. This InterRegio (IR) service runs hourly via Herisau, the main town of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the Toggenburg valley, the lakeside dam on Lake Zürich, the high moorland of Rothenthurm, Lake Zug and Lake Lucerne. Since 2020, the SOB also operates the Treno Gottardo over the old Gotthard railway between / and , and since 2021 the Aare Linth between and (both are IR services). SOB also runs some S-Bahn (S) services of Lucerne S-Bahn, St. Gallen S-Bahn and Zürich S-Bahn.
Total route length: , of which are their own.
Rail links to other countries
Standard gauge Austria – same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC France – voltage change 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC / 25 kV, 50 Hz AC or 1,500 V DC Germany – same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC Italy – voltage change 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC / 3 kV DC Liechtenstein – same voltage 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC
Although Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein all use the same voltage as Switzerland, dedicated types of locomotives are necessary due to Switzerland using narrower pantographs.
Germany Several railway lines cross the Germany–Switzerland border. The most important one is the Mannheim–Basel line, which links stations in Germany with Basel Badischer Bahnhof in the Swiss city of Basel. This station is also the western terminus of the High Rhine Railway, which runs east–west along the High Rhine and across the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, and of the Wiese Valley Railway to . Stations along these lines, including those in Switzerland, are owned by the German BEV, except Schaffhausen railway station, which is jointly owned with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Other cross-border lines include the Eglisau–Neuhausen railway, corresponding to the shortest route between and Schaffhausen, which passes over German territory with two active railway stations (, ), both owned and operated by SBB (and its subsidiary Thurbo). Another railway line connects the border stations of (Switzerland) and (Germany) via a bridge over the High Rhine. A loop of the Lake Line links Switzerland with the German border city of Konstanz on Lake Constance. Another railway line, the Etzwilen–Singen railway, is only used by heritage trains.
Deutsche Bahn (DB) operates long-distance trains from Germany to Swiss cities, including Intercity-Express (ICE) services to , Zürich HB, , and . DB also operates an InterCity (IC) service between Zürich HB and , and an Interregio-Express (IRE) over the High Rhine line between Basel Badischer Bahnhof and . On the other hand, SBB runs EuroCity (EC) services between Zürich HB and , via in Austria. There is also one InterRegio (IR) line and one RegioExpress (RE) line with as their terminus. SBB GmbH, SBB's German subsidiary, also operates a regional line, named the Seehas, and one line of Basel S-Bahn entirely on German territory close to the Swiss border.
France There are a few railway lines crossing the France–Switzerland border, the most-frequented ones being the Lyon–Geneva railway and the Strasbourg–Basel railway lines. TGV Lyria, a joint-venture between SBB and the French SNCF, operates high-speed trains from Paris or southern France to and or Basel SBB and Zürich HB. Some RegioExpress (RE) trains of SBB also connect with stations in France. The Léman Express is a commuter rail system linking Geneva with stations in Switzerland and France. Some cross-border regional trains services are provided by TER.
Austria and Liechtenstein Only one standard gauge railway line crosses the Austria–Switzerland border, the St. Margrethen–Lauterach line, while another one, the Feldkirch–Buchs railway line, connects the two countries via the Principality of Liechtenstein. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) operates the Railjet and the Transalpin (an EC service) between Zürich HB and several destinations in Austria. The services run via and through Liechtenstein (without stopping) to either Wien Hbf or Graz Hbf and call, among others, at Innsbruck Hbf and Salzburg Hbf. The other line is used by EC trains (Zürich–Munich) and regional trains of Bodensee S-Bahn.
Rail transport to Liechtenstein is provided by Vorarlberg S-Bahn, operated by ÖBB. There are also bus links between Swiss railway stations and Liechtenstein.
Italy The main railway lines linking Switzerland with Italy are the Gotthard railway and the Simplon railway. SBB and the Italian Trenitalia jointly operate EC services across the Italy–Switzerland border. These services run between and or even via the Simplon Tunnel. Between Basel and Milan via Bern and the Lötschberg Base and Simplon Tunnels, and between Zürich HB and Milan via the Gotthard route. These routes were previously operated by Cisalpino. Other standard-gauge lines crossing the border are operated by regional trains of TILO.
Night trains There are also EuroNight (EN) services between Switzerland and other European countries. The Austrian ÖBB operates Nightjet (NJ) trains between Swiss, Austrian, Dutch and German destinations.
Narrow-gauge railways
Due to lack of space, the trains partly run on the street or right next to it.
RhB and MGB
The Rhätische Bahn (RhB), , is the longest metre-gauge railway network in Switzerland. Located in the eastern Swiss Alps, it links Arosa, Disentis, Davos and St. Moritz with Chur in the canton of Grisons (). One line, operated by the Bernina Express (a Panorama Express, PE), crosses the Italy–Switzerland border to Tirano in the Valtellina valley. The Bernina Pass is the highest point on this line, at an altitude of . It is also the highest rail crossing in Europe. and are RhB's rail junctions with the Swiss Federal Railways' standard gauge network. RhB's lines pass through the Landquart, Vorderrhein and upper Alpine Rhine valleys and several side valleys, as well as the Engadine, the upper valley of the river Inn. The network has a total length of .
The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB), , was founded in 2003 through the merger of the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) with the Brig–Zermatt Bahn (BVZ; BVZ means Brig–Visp–Zermatt). The former Furka Oberalp Bahn was a metre-gauge railway in the high southern Alps. Its name refers to two passes, the Furka Pass and the Oberalp Pass. The Furka Pass lies at the upper end of the Rhône valley. The Oberalp Pass is the highest point on this line at above sea level, and lies at the upper end of the Rhine valley. The line runs from to . At , the line connects with the former Schöllenenbahn to on the standard gauge Gotthard Railway of Swiss Federal Railways. Brig in the canton of Valais is a rail junction with standard gauge lines of Swiss Federal Railways and BLS. It sits at the north end of the Simplon Tunnel on the Milan–Lausanne line and Milan–Bern line. The total length of the FO railway was . The former Brig–Zermatt Bahn was a short line between Brig and . It passes through the valleys of the Vispa and Matter Vispa, tributaries of the Rhône. The total length of the BVZ line was .
The Glacier Express (GEX), a Panorama Express (PE), runs on the combined route, using lines of RhB and MGB ( - - - - - - - ). A one-day trip in panoramic-view cars takes tourists from St. Moritz to Zermatt, or vice versa, through some of the most spectacular scenery of the Alps. It is the longest long-distance train service in Switzerland. The journey from Zermatt to St. Moritz takes about 8 hours.
Further narrow-gauge railways Eastern Switzerland