Is it just me or is the SBB getting worse and worse. Almost every 3 days I am in a delayed train (usually 3-5min, but I miss connecting traine and am delayed by 30min). Every week a Wc has no water, is defective or closed (sometimes it happens that the smell from the outside is very strong). The same goes for the doors in the wagons. The last commercial with the girl with a paper sign saying “I want to go to Milan fast” was distastetul. It also bothers me that SBB is one of the state-owned companies where the top positions are compensated with more than CHF 1 million.
Also, it seems to me that the frequency of checks has increased (Idk if that is bad).
Do you also have the same problems? How could we tackle them? Would an initiative to create a control body be useful?
Personally, I depend on public transport and especially with the current trend of devaluation of the car, I think it would be very important to improve its quality and keep the costs affordable. Otherwise I would switch to a car.
Edit: http://puenktlichkeit.ch/ (e.g. last 365 days Intercity punctuality threshold 3min: Genève – Nyon: 57%; Lausanne – Genève : 73.8%, Zürich HB – Bern: 75.5%, Olten – Basel SBB (SBB): 74.4%; Zürich HB – Zug (SBB): 77.9%; Basel SBB – Zürich HB (SBB): 68.9%)
39 comments
Haven’t noticed any of these problems. And even if I had it would still be miles and away better than the trains of my home country so… Just in my opinion no it’s not getting worse.
From where to where are you taking the train? Being in Basel I always avoid the trains coming from Germany because they are often delayed and unreliable
Romand problem, SBB barely noticed it
I’ve noticed the quality of the SBB service versus BLS isn’t as good between 2019 and now. They also removed all the trash cans from second class in their KISS trains. BLS has trash cans and charging ports on the same model in second class. Aside from that however, any issues I’ve had, have been minor. Some intermittent delays (namely from construction) some cleanliness issues, etc.
My recommendation: if your train is consistently late, find an alternate route. Leave earlier or later to ensure you have time to make a connection. This is the only downside to mass transit and this problem is everywhere.
Haven’t really noticed an difference on my trains. But I ride one of the main lines (Zürich->Bern) so that is obviously well taken care of.
Shortage of rolling stock atm (well too much that requires maintenance) leads to more faulty trains being in service.
It is definitely worse than it ever was before, yet still not terrible.
Funny, I have found the same (Zurich area generally 3-5 mins late). Coming from the UK where trains have the opposite reputation (always late) but my personal experience being similar, I started to consider whether it’s simply ones pre conceived ideas based on legend/reputations, not actually statistically different.
If you look, this is somewhat true. [UK](https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/punctuality.html) and [SBB](https://company.sbb.ch/en/the-company/responsibility-society-environment/customers/punctuality.html) trains both have a punctuality of around 90% (a train arriving within 3 minutes is *on time*)
Not saying either is bad – I still love and use SBB and Swiss public transport in general – just highlighting that the reputation doesn’t hold water. Japanese trains on the other hand…
Since a controller was killed by a door, it seems to me they have additional checks before closing the door, and as soon as they suspect that a door is not 100% safe, they will take time to shut it safely and disable it for the trip.
I guess there are other additional safety regulations that were added and that can cause additional delays.
I switched to car, as i was getting either a breakown or over 10 late train to SG every week, at least once. Joke is on me, i am now in home office since 2020 April
Can’t speak to them being late, but recently I’ve used the toilet a few times and there’s never any soap, nothing works in there and it was filthy. This was a train from Zurich.
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yes. more cancellations due to “technical problems”. more delays from even 30 min, which makes me miss connections. stinky bathrooms, less chargers and trashcans, and not enough wagons on peak hours.
For me the main problem is how freaking expensive it is, and that there are no talks to lower the prices. Quite the opposite in fact.
Everything is getting worse in this country, but don’t worry, we are just leveling down to european standards.
Yes it is much worse unfortunately in the 10 years I’ve been here. Trains are overcrowded & SBB doesn’t do much to improve this, far more delays than there used to be and repeated problems on the tracks (especially in hot weather) & the customer service is rapidly declining.
However, it is still largely a pleasure to take trains here in Switzerland.
It does seem like there are more delays. I think part of the problem is the increase in rail traffic over the past several years. There’s no longer much room for error, so if something goes wrong, the problems cascade onto all the later trains.
That said, I think the SBB could do more. For example: if a train leaves 3 minutes late, it shouldn’t then arrive 5 minutes late. There should be enough reserve planned into the schedule that trains can make up time. If a train leaves just a little late, it should still arrive on time. That would prevent a lot of the “cascading” problems.
I hate that they take away all the garabge bins in the compartments, albeit i am not sure if this is true for the interregios as wekk. but its certainly a sign of cost cutting. nothing to do with covid as they claimed, since they started doing that way earlier.
TL;DR: No, it hasn’t, you don’t understand probability, and you’re probably angry that you had to pay a fine.
Over the past month, **punctuality was 92.6%**, the **same** value as 2020, and **higher** than 2019 (90.6%), and significantly higher than 2014 (**87.7%**) and the goal (**89%**).
Also, let’s run the numbers: at 90% punctuality, you have a **65% probability of encountering a delay every 10 train rides**, and 88% probability of encountering a delay every 20 train rides.
Yes its very frustrating. Every year more “cancelled trains”, very frequent 2-7 min delays, and poorer cleanliness. The price has remained high as ever though!
Are trains ever on time? The S4 certainly isn’t. And that’s when it’s working, because the last 2 years it is often shut down for maintenance. It sucks.
*Laughs in Deutsche Bahn*
I remember my train being cancelled once (it was going to St. Gallen but I was getting off before) for no reason, and that was only announced 5 minutes before it was due to arrive… still mystifies me as to why, but overall you’re quite right
Subjectively SBB got worse.
Statistically they got better.
Often I hear about problems along the line when I wait for my train. Fortunately i did not have many times where it was about my fare.
>Almost every 3 days I am in a delayed train (usually 3-5min, but I miss connecting traine and am delayed by 30min).
3-5 minutes isnt that big a deal. compared to other train services, it is still likely one of the best. considering the cost of train services here, its not unreasonable.
>Every week a Wc has no water, is defective or closed (sometimes it happens that the smell from the outside is very strong). The same goes for the doors in the wagons.
There is greater demand and less turnround time for trains – demand is rising and without investment to buy more rolling stock (itself taking a number of years), it means the same number of trains needing to run more frequently and more often. There is less ‘standby’ time when repairs can be made, because people are demanding train services.
>The last commercial with the girl with a paper sign saying “I want to go to Milan fast” was distastetul.
Distasteful how? i thought it was not controversial.
>It also bothers me that SBB is one of the state-owned companies where the top positions are compensated with more than CHF 1 million.
Senior positions with responsibility require people who only bring the required experience and expertise if they are paid well. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
>Also, it seems to me that the frequency of checks has increased (Idk if that is bad)
It isnt.
>Do you also have the same problems? How could we tackle them? Would an initiative to create a control body be useful? Personally, I depend on public transport and especially with the current trend of devaluation of the car, I think it would be very important to improve its quality and keep the costs affordable. Otherwise I would switch to a car.
This is actually the problem – more and more people are using the trains, leading to more wear and tear, maintenance issues etc. despite climbing costs, the prices of tickets has been relatively stable for a long time now, and compared to its peers, SBB performs very well.
So you have more costs, slightly more revenue, but nowhere near enough more revenue to justify paying high prices for immediate purchase of new rolling stock, and a governing system in which decisions are not made quickly. This results in over-dependance on existing rolling stock and an inevitable drop in passenger experience.
For the SBB, the standard line is the normal and the issues only make it worse. There isn’t really a lot they can do to make you think it is awesome really.
And we are always going to notice issues a lot more than situation where it works.
So they’ll always look like it got worse, it’s a really tough position to be in. One thing is certain, they do have a lack of train conductor, leading to closure of certain lines.
For me one of the current problem is the new double decked train of SBB. Compared to the old one it is really bad:
1. The trashcan in the middle of the seats are already malfunctioning, and when you try to open it, it drops all its content on the floor
2. There is only one toilet per car, instead of two with the previous one. Often the time I get up to go there, someone else went in.
3. If you sit close to the door leading to the next/previous car, you will experience a loud BOOM every time the train cross another one, I guess a part is too sensitive to air pressure there
4. the armrest is ridiculously small
5. The doors are already malfunctioning
6. When approaching a train station and switching lane, the train swings a lot more than the previous ones
7. The announcements from the controllers or the train stops are much louder than in previous cars, and it cannot be lowered
I really don’t understand why they did not order the new cars from the same company than before…
If you’re using the “Valais – Geneva” line, yes. And if not, welcome to our world, since ~20 years ^_^
SBB had a [widely publicised](https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/sbb-verspaetung-bei-jedem-sechsten-intercity-ld.1457471) punctuality crisis in 2018. i believe the numbers got a bit better since then, but most of the underlying problems are longer term.
Trains between Olten – Basel SBB seems to be regularly on time during peak mornings and evenings. (Sometimes up to a 4 min delay, but I leave early enough that it doesn’t prevent me reaching work on time)
Seem clean, but I did notice they have removed the pull down bins at the seats in many of the trains, but kept the larger ones by the doors, this seems more practical to me for cleaning wise.
Holy first world problems, Batman
Have you ever been in a train in Germany? They would LOVE 3-5 min delays.
They would LOVE if there even was an open toilet that is not full of shit
They would LOVE if the higher ups only earned 1 Million.
So…that’s Germany/DB for you, not some 3rd world country…
Has SBB its flaws? it sure has, but those aren’t any of them
Business as usual
I‘m just happy my employer pays for a 1. class GA, so I don‘t really notice many of these issues except for frequent delays.
The EW IV and EC cars (single deck cars that are pulled by a locomotive) feel like they’re end of life at this point. Vibrations at speed, disgusting toilets, ugly and worn interiors, problematic doors etc. All the other rolling stock seems pretty fine to me though. I just hope they get rid of these pieces of shit soon. I guess it’s those you’re complaining about?
I used to live in CH and now only go back now and then. I don’t remember anything noteworthy of “the olden days” but the last two times I was in Switzerland I had an experience (once each time) where the controlleurs were incredibly and unnecessarily aggro with me.
I know someone who used to work as an engineer for the SBB.
They keep upping the number of trains and trying to cut the length of trips by some minutes still, while they can’t keep up with maintaining it all (rails, trains etc.)
Delays and stuff that’s doesn’t work (doors, toilets) then ensue.
Overall on time on my rides but I’ve noticed a lot of broken doors, half functional bathrooms and such.
I bet if it was 100% ran by the Conf it would be better, but director has to be paid millions otherwise that’s not attractive enough for managers to apply…
Working for SBB here, if you have questions, feel free. I keep hearing criticism, some of which is certainly valid, much isn’t though, and I find it important to differentiate. SBB has a few problems at the moment, such as:
– our network is overloaded. The number of people taking the train has increased in an enormous fashion over the last 10 years. This puts more strain on the infrastructure, leading to more maintenance required, thus more construction sites.
– The repartition of when people take the train (6-8h, 16-18h) is terrible for the « Taktfahrplan », leading to more delays during peak hours. Outside of peaks, punctuality is at 99%. During peaks, it’s not as good but it’s because of the passengers blocking the doors, not really because of SBB.
– when a train is full, it’s usually because nothing more can be done. Train stations have a limited length, so you can’t just add cars. Tracks are also not infinitely available.
– costs: yes, tickets are expensive when you don’t have a halbtax or another type of abonnement. Keep in mind: the system we run is very expensive, what you pay, is what it’s worth, otherwise it would be as shitty as in France.
– The pricing in Switzerland is not done by SBB on its own, but by all public transport companies together. SBB has actually always pushed for decreasing prices, but the smaller companies are against it. In that association, SBB has just one voice, so as much influence there as a small bus company.
– our CEO is paid less than a million, which is already extremely low for leading a 33.000 people big company. It’s not like you can afford to underpay our CEO otherwise they would leave for a better pay after two months. And his salary is “just” as much as 8 average employees! so it’s not like it’s making any sort of difference on the budget.
*Laughs in New Jersey Transit or any public transportation system in the US*
No, but seriously, yes it is annoying that trains get delayed in Switzerland and it shouldn’t be happening at all since they all got bailed out by govt.. but cmon, nothing compares to the national embarrassment of public transport that the US has. Talk about missing your connection, trains going at like 50 km/h the whole ride, and unsanitary facilities and dirty stations. Would take this SBB mismanagement any day