SBB cuts Deutsche Bahn trains to Switzerland over chronic delays
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By Jan de Boer
Chronic delays at Deutsche Bahn have forced Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to cut further services running from the federal republic to the alpine nation. More travellers will now have to change trains on their journey to the neighbouring country.
SBB cuts further Deutsche Bahn services
Starting April 29, various German long-distance train services to Switzerland will only go as far as Basel, SBB has confirmed in a statement. The measures will be introduced due to "major delays" and are expected to be in place until further notice.
In future, the EuroCity (EC) 7 service from Hamburg to Interlaken Ost via Bremen, Dortmund, Cologne, Koblenz, Freiburg, Olten, and Bern will only run to Basel. This measure will also apply to the EC 9 from Dortmund to Zurich.
SBB advises travellers on the route to alight in Basel and take regular Swiss public transport services to their destinations. More SBB trains will be run on the Swiss section of the EC 7 and EC 9 routes to compensate for the reduced service.
However, it’s important to note that EC 7 and 9 services heading in the opposite direction, from Switzerland to Germany, will run as normal, as they are operated by SBB.
Chronic DB delays cause chaos for the Swiss railways
The new measure comes as Deutsche Bahn continues to grapple with poor punctuality - a factor blamed on a lack of investment in maintaining the German rail network. While SBB achieved record punctuality rates in 2024, just 62,5 percent of DB trains arrived on time last year. The company also admitted in August 2024 that it had lost control of its timetables.
Deutsche Bahn’s lack of punctuality has proven to be a headache for SBB, who fear that allowing delayed German trains to run beyond border regions would lead to knock-on disruption to Swiss services. Therefore, in late 2022, SBB decided that three trains heading from Hamburg to Chur would only run as far as Basel SBB, to prevent the often-delayed trains from disrupting the network.
In July 2024, SBB upped the ante, announcing that any Deutsche Bahn train which arrives in Switzerland between 10 and 15 minutes late will be cancelled after it reaches Basel. At the time, they argued that in 90 percent of occasions, passengers on these trains would be able to find a suitable Swiss service that would run on time.
This article was originally published on IamExpat in Switzerland.
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more