The ‘service problems’ that the politicians are referring to include recurring delays and aging trains of TER, a regional company of France’s national railway, SNCF, which operates on the 149-km line between the two cities.
As reported by the Tribune de Genève, “some Swiss entities want to remedy this situation.”
Among them is the canton of Geneva, which is urging the SBB to intervene and develop “a rapid service, running every two hours” with just one intermediate stop, in Valserhône, instead of seven currently.
Under the proposal, the SBB would not completely replace the TER, but supplement the current service with a more efficient option.
Could a Swiss train operate on the French territory?
Currently, no.
But under the terms of bilateral agreements that Switzerland concluded with the European Union in December, foreign transport companies can offer cross-border connections to Switzerland and the SBB will be able to do the same.
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Not a smooth ride
However, some challenges still have to be tackled by the Swiss side.
One is that the electric current that powers rail lines in France and Switzerland is not the same.
Also, the SBB currently doesn’t have ‘spare’ trains to be put into service on the Geneva-Lyon line.
And the fact that the TER service between the two cities (almost entirely running on the French territory) is subsidised by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region further complicates the Swiss plan.
However, a Geneva deputy, Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini, said these problems are not insurmountable and has asked the Federal Council to look into the matter.
When would this plan go into effect?
Not so quickly, given the number of steps that have to be taken before this project can be put on the right track — both figuratively and literally.