Dear Doctor Rail
Why is this timetable change so challenging? So what exactly is changing?
Best wishes,
Barbara
Dear Barbara
The timetable changes on 13 December 2015. This year, there’s a lot going on: long-distance services are now also running on the Zurich cross-city line. They then speed westwards across the new bridges, first over the Kohlendreieck bridge and then the Letzigraben bridge. Incidentally, the latter is the longest railway bridge in Switzerland. In Zurich, construction work is almost complete, so Oerlikon station is due to be finished by late 2016. The timetable change is also complicated by extensive maintenance work and numerous expansion projects (e.g. Eppenberg tunnel/four-track upgrade).
Construction work further to the west is now really getting going too: as part of «Léman 2030», for example, the major project designed to increase capacity between Lausanne and Geneva in the Lake Geneva region. And this means route changes. For example, passengers travelling from Geneva to Basel now need to change in Biel and those coming from Lausanne must travel to Basel via Olten. In Neuchâtel, railway undertakings are now working closely with SBB, BLS and transN due to changes in the timetable for long-distance traffic. The regional services therefore need altering. With the adjusted timetable, the three companies are fulfilling the requirements of the cantons of Neuchâtel and Bern as well as the FOT: services will run every half hour from Neuchâtel further into Switzerland. La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle and Val-de-Travers will also benefit from two connections per hour. New travel times will also be introduced in the Bernese Jura, while in the canton of Vaud, the Vaud RER will be extended to Grandson, extra services will be added and lines will be re-numbered.
To help our passengers get used to the new timetable, around 350 customer assistants will be on hand at stations throughout Switzerland when the timetable is first introduced. We will also provide information through announcements, flyers and, in some places, by setting up information stands. Of course, information will also be available online. You can find an interactive map showing all the new connections there too.
The new timetable will bring many improvements, such as a third, faster train which will run every hour between Zurich and St. Gallen and will not stop between Winterthur and St. Gallen. The ICN will now operate between Yverdon-les-Bains and Zurich every half hour. A new RegioExpress service will connect the urban agglomerations of Kreuzlingen/Constance with St. Gallen and the Fürstenland five times a day, while Long-Distance Services and Thurbo will provide additional early morning and late night connections between Constance and Zurich. Some connections will be served by trains belonging to Long-Distance Services, others by Thurbo (this may even vary from one weekday to the next). Direct services will also run between Weinfelden and Zurich every half hour.
Long-distance travel will be improved between Constance/Kreuzlingen and Zurich with a new early morning connection and additional late night services. This will create a direct, continuous half-hourly service between Weinfelden and Zurich.
With regard to regional traffic, SBB and ZVV are introducing services such as the S19 between Dietikon and Effretikon and the S21 between Regensdorf and Zurich main station. A number of other lines are to be extended or interlinked. There will also be changes in the journey times of a number of services. These measures aim to improve the reliability and punctuality of the trains, making it easier to keep to the timetables and ensure that connections can be made even during peak hours.
Best wishes,
Doctor Rail
Der Beitrag 2015 timetable change: everything is new in December. erschien zuerst auf SBB Blog..