One piece of good news after another for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Demand is soaring and SBB is making money again. The company notes that the number of daily passengers in the first half of 2023 was 1.33 million, an increase of 21.4% compared with the same period in 2022.
Attendance higher than in pre-Covid years
March 2023, the number of travellers has exceeded the pre-covid level for the first time. In fact, passenger numbers in the first half of 2023 establishes a record in the company's history3.04% higher than in 2019.
More good news: the positive trend in international passenger traffic. The latter is up nearly 20% representing 5.7 million passengers carried.
SBB's financial results also recovered spectacularly. The railway company recorded a profit of 99 million francs (99.5 million euros) between January and June 2023. This compares with a loss of CHF 142.3 million for the first half of 2022. This positive result is the first since 2019. The biggest financial turnaround was in long-distance services, which posted a profit of CHF 13.7 million.
Train punctuality, for example, improved to 93.6% (+0.3 points)The number of connections even rose to 98.8%. However, eIt remains less good on the main lines, with a rate of 91.3%.
Train punctuality down in French-speaking Switzerland
However, there are a few clouds in this positive picture. For example, punctuality continues to be below average in French-speaking Switzerland. It stands at 90,6% in this part of the country against 95.5% for Eastern Switzerland (which includes Zurich and Basel) and 93.8% for Central Switzerland (Bern/Lucerne). On the other hand, punctuality for connections remains excellent in French-speaking Switzerland, at 98.7%.
SBB aims to improve punctuality in French-speaking Switzerland by introducing a new timetable in 2025. This should recover by actually increasing journey times. In other words slightly reduced speed on network lines. Punctuality is also lower in Ticino (90.5%) and is set to deteriorate further in the second half of the year with the closure of the Gotthard Tunnel.
However, the increase in passenger numbers has led to a deterioration in passenger satisfaction. It stands at 79.3 points out of 100, compared with 80.7 points for the first half of 2022.
Finally, SBB points out that more than 95% of travellers bought their ticket online or from a ticket machine.
