The timetable change on 14 December 2025 will bring the biggest expansion of services in north-west Switzerland for 20 years, with Basel continuing to strengthen its role as the country's rail gateway.
From the central station, the SBB will offer a quarter-hourly service between Basel and Liestal and a half-hourly service between Basel and Biel via Délémont in the Jura. Above all, SBB is relaunching a direct line from the metropolis of north-western Switzerland to the Lake Geneva region, in particular Lausanne.
The Grand-Est region linked to Scandinavia via Basel
Travellers can also reach several European destinations more easily from Basel Central. The station is to benefit from a new night service to Hamburg-Copenhagen-Malmö. Operations are due to start on 15 April 2026, with three connections per week and per direction.
The Basel SBB route departs on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, while the Malmö and Copenhagen (Kobenhavns Lufthavn) route departs on Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays. However, this route will only be created if it receives financial support from the Confederation under the CO2 Act.
Night trains at weekends will also make it easier to reach Swiss airports for flights taking off very early in the morning. This will be the case in particular with Geneva airport, which will benefit from these direct night trains from Fribourg, Lausanne and Sion.
More trains between Lausanne and Marseille
Finally, the direct seasonal service from Lausanne to Marseille will be strengthened for one year in 2026. Passengers will now be able to travel directly from Lausanne to Provence. Between April and October, trains will run from Thursday to Monday, becoming daily in July and August.
Finally, passengers can benefit from an alternative rail link via Zurich to Italy. SBB will be strengthening the Zurich-Milan route with two additional trains per direction between Zurich and Milan-Centrale. And the existing direct link to Bologna will now be extended to Florence.
