I’ve experienced just how efficient the Swiss railway system is more than once and I’ve had reason to curse my luck. On one occasion, landing at Zurich Airport on a flight from London Heathrow, I calculated that if I grabbed my case from the carousel and made my way quickly to the connecting train from the airport to the main station in Zurich, I’d just about make it for the last train to Visp, allowing me to then catch the last train up to Zermatt and be tucked up in bed shortly after midnight. The carousel part went like a dream, my luggage was amongst the first out. I only had to wait a minute or two for the connecting train to the main station. I was going to make it but it would be close. I was first off the train and hot footed it down the escalator to my train to Visp, I literally had seconds to spare. There she was, doors open, waiting for me to board. The train was scheduled to leave at 9.55pm and leave at 9.55pm she did, except I got to the door at 9.55 plus one second. The doors hissed shut in my face, leaving my on the platform, out of breath and out of luck. I wasn’t a happy bunny as that meant a CHF 220 taxi ride up to Zermatt but I had to admit that I was mightily impressed with the punctuality, even if it did leave me out of pocket.
The report, conducted by Boston Consulting Group confirms confirms Switzerland’s top placed position, as it was in the first report commissioned in 2012. “Overall the results of our 2015 study are consistent with our first study,” the authors say. Sweden, Denmark, France, Finland an Germany also had high rankings, with France losing two places, down to fourth, swapping places with Sweden, who were ranked second. Britain came eighth, with the highest safety ranking but the service rating was “poor” which will come as no surprise to British rail users. As us Brits suspect “Health & Safety” is king, never mind about looking after the customers, which is pretty much the conclusion the report arrived at too. Bulgaria is the dunce and his mates are Poland and Portugal who came bottom of the class.
The report evaluates three areas of passenger and freight traffic. The index rates the intensity of use by passengers and freight companies, the quality of service and safety. To assess quality of service, the report’s authors looked at such aspects as punctuality of trains, speed and the affordability of travel on a per passenger/kilometre basis. Switzerland’s top ranking stems in part from the high volume of passengers carried on its railways, which are largely state-owned.“It also has a good rating for quality of service and a very good rating for safety.”
"Our study indicates that the model for allocating public subsidies correlates with a railway system’s performance," said report co-author Sylvain Duranton. "Simply put, countries that get the most value from public spending on railway systems also allocate the highest percentage of subsidies."Last year, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), the main rail operator in Switzerland, received more than 2.2 billion francs in government subsidies. In referendums, Swiss citizens have also repeatedly supported major investments in railway infrastructure.