The publication of the new CFF timetable for 2025 angers several cities in Romandie (including Bienne/Biel, Yverdon-les-Bains, Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Geneva).

18 comments

  1. The cities of Yverdon-les-Bains, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Biel, Delémont, the RVAJ (a network of cities along the Jura Arc), Morges, Geneva, as well as Geneva Airport, have denounced what they describe as a “two-speed railway network” proposed by the CFF for the 2025 timetable.

    There’s also a [great editorial](https://www.letemps.ch/opinions/editoriaux/horaire-cff-2025-on-voudrait-degouter-romands-rail-quon-ne-sy-prendrait) in *Le Temps* today about this contempt-filled decision by our Federal Railways. An excerpt —

    >*En octobre 2021, l’épisode du trou de Tolochenaz révélait la fragilité du réseau lémanique en un interminable blocage. Le feuilleton du chantier bloqué de la gare de Lausanne, dont l’issue a été reportée de quatre à cinq ans, magnifie les absurdes dysfonctionnements du système fédéral. Récemment encore, l’annonce d’une hausse de tarifs des transports publics venait plomber leur attractivité. Et voilà que les CFF nous présentent un horaire pour 2025 qui lèse tout un pan de la Suisse romande.* ***Là où le bon sens commun attend simplifications et rapidité, on complexifie et prolonge les voyages.***
    >
    >*In October 2021, the episode of the Tolochenaz hole revealed the fragility of the Lake Geneva network through an interminable blockage. The farce of the blocked construction site at Lausanne station, the outcome of which has been postponed by four to five years, magnifies the absurd dysfunctions of the federal system. Only recently, the announcement of a fare increase for public transport undermined its attractiveness. And now the CFF is presenting us with a timetable for 2025 that is detrimental to a whole section of Romandie.* ***Where common sense expects simplification and speed, they are making journeys more complex and longer.***

  2. I totally understand the Romands in this case. SBB is still one of the best railway companies I’ve ever seen but they should be taking care a lot more about their customers or they are eventually going to lose them.

    I commute by train but I’d never give away my car.

  4. It is unfortunate for people going to Geneva, but at least people don’t have to go to Lausanne to change to Geneva because the trains also stop in Renens. If they do it in a smart way (for example on the same platform with trains about the same length) it isn’t *that* bad.

    At this junction there is a problem anyway. There are always people on the train to Geneva who want to go to Lausanne and have to change in Yverdon and people wanting to go to Geneva on the train to Lausanne. So introducing a station in the middle is not a bad idea.

    [Here is the source article by SBB if anyone likes to read it](https://news.sbb.ch/fr/medias/article/122773/refonte-de-l-horaire-cff-en-suisse-occidentale-des-2025)

  5. They announced Friday the cancellation of the IC5 line departing from Geneva for at least 10 years, from 2024. After they promised to only temporarily cancel the direct connection between Switzerland’s second largest city and Basel in 2015 for the exact same reason “travaux”, a cancellation that seems now permanent.

    Now they’re leaving Geneva with one single line of national importance halving the number of connections with Zurich, and residents of Neuchâtel, Yverdon or Biel/Bienne will no longer have direct connections to the airport. In addition, they’re increasing the travel time between Geneva and Lausanne by 4 minutes to a minimum of 39. As other cities in Switzerland like Bern, Zurich and Lugano considerably reduced their travel times thanks to important investments partly financed by the French speaking side of the country, **the connection between the two largest western cities has increased by 35% in the past 60 years** (when it took 29 minutes!).Worst is, as the quality of the service considerably worsens, the CFF asks us to pay them more money. I have an AG for my weekend and holiday excursions for convenience and as a way to support public transport, but this is the last time I renew it since it is a fucking gift to the CFF while they give me and all other Genevans the middle finger.

    If the CFF abandons an appropriate offer between these cities, the cantons should consider allowing bus routes to serve these cities in opposition to current rules. Let the CFF feel the pressure of competition.

  6. Funny how they increase prices (the sky is the limit) and at the same time announce how much worse their services will be over a temporary timespan of round about 10 years.

  8. I feel like the tone is too melodramatic. Yes we have been f… for years by getting no investment in romandie. Yes we are paying a bigger price. But the service is not cut off from the regions. And they won’t promise something they know they can’t hold. What I need from the sbb is reliability, and if they can offer that then I don’t mind having to travel a little longer.

  10. I’m actually more worried that SBB/CFF could elaborate their thoughts on closing more railway stations in the Romandie…

    I once read that they may consider closing all the hourly served stops on the Yverdon-Bussigny line because it “might not be possible otherwise to make the s-bahn faster”. Worst case this would concern Ependes, Essert-Pittet, Eclépens and Bavois. Considering that there are several stops in the region which have been closed or run ridiculous services (e.g. Vaumarcus, Concise or Onnens-Bonvillars) i really hope they’ve learned sth over the past few years, especially from the Leissigen disaster in 2020.

  11. Well that sucks. I remember when they completely cancelled the Morges and Nyon stops on the ICN (which became IC5), boasting it would make the journey 5 minutes shorter. Yes, the duration of the stops.

    They eventually backed out a bit.

    I feel so bad for everyone who relies on this route to commute.

  13. Fuck that and fuck the increase in price. In any case where I live (Bulle, gruyères, a town that will have 30’000 habitants in the near future) the offer is incredibly uncompetitive and expensive (and it will be even more)

  17. I see great potential for a air network as on the ground it seems impossible: GVA, QLS, ACH, LUG, BSL etc.

  18. This is the worst news for public transportation in Switzerland since the last worst news for public transportation in Switzerland a few days ago.

Leave a Reply