Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has set its sights on 2026 under the banner of Basel. The north-western Swiss metropolis will be hosting the biggest expansion of its rail services in twenty years. This will also strengthen the role of Basel Central (Basel SBB-CFF) as a rail hub of the Rhine axis.
The timetable change on 14 December will mean an RER service (S-Bahn) every 15 minutes to Liestal in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. SBB will offer a service to Biel every 30 minutes. On this line, one train in two will continue to Lausanne via Delémont (Jura) and Neuchâtel. This direct link was discontinued several years ago.
Customers travelling between Germany and Switzerland will also benefit from extended rail services via Basel. German ICE trains will run as far as Brigin the canton of Valais. This will boost connections to Milan through the Simplon tunnel from this Valais town. In addition, SBB will be offering four direct daily services to and from Chur in Graubünden.
Waiting for the cross-border RER
From 2030Basel SBB station will also confirm its role as Europe's largest border station. This is because, the trans-Rhine RER (S-Bahn) project will mean trains on two new lines. These will be the S2 Olten-Basel-Mulhouse and S4 Laufen-Basel-St. Louis lines.
On these lines, the CFF will provide a 30-minute service most of the time between Switzerland and the Grand-Est region. The two future lines will stop at Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse which will benefit from a railway connection planned for 2035.
Eventually, there will be a high-density service between Mulhouse-L'Euroairport and BaselThe RER service also includes the SNCF TER 200 line linking Strasbourg to the Swiss metropolis.
Marseille-Lausanne on track for 2026
Other developments in SBB's 2025/2026 timetable change include more links between Zurich and the south. Switzerland's financial capital will have hourly connections to Ticino (Lugano and Chiasso). Two additional daily trains will also shuttle between Zurich and Milan. And the direct Zurich-Bologna line will be extended to Florence.
Finally in French-speaking SwitzerlandSBB to resume operations in 2026 the seasonal service between Lausanne and Marseille. It will operate fromApril to the end of October five days a weekfrom Thursday to Monday. The service will even become daily during July and August. This will also benefit the Lyon-Switzerland axis.
