Not Just Speed but also Transport Capacity

Over the last couple of months Switzerland has seen a number of news articles discussing the need for better rolling stock to increase rail capacity (German), the question of wether to increase train speeds or transport capacity (German), the rising maintenance costs due to heavier and more frequent trains (German), and network optimization measures to gain a couple of seconds in a timetable (German). The existing rail infrastructure clearly has reached its limits. Yet how do we plan to deal with the rising demand for transportation 20 or 30 years from now?

The problem is that nobody seems to have a plan. The SBB do have a couple of infrastructure projects in the pipeline, but those will not be enough to meet the increasing demand. The example of Bahn 2000 has shown that an impoved rail infrastructure quickly increases the strain on the rail system and leads to new bottlenecks. Cost is one major obstacle for the new infrastructure projects until 2030, because building new tracks in a densely populated country like Switzerland is no easy feat and requires many civil engineering works like tunnels or bridges. The railway stations also need to improve their capacity and more and more they need to expand underground.

Tweaking the existing system will clearly not be enough because the marginal cost of squeazing more capacity out of the rail infrastructure is rising. What is needed is technological alternative that surpasses some of the limitations of the rail system but most of all creates additional transport capacity. A direct service with Swissmetro between the major cities would free capacities on the exisiting rail system that could be used for improved local and regional connections. With a speed of 500 km/h and a much better energy efficiency Swissmetro means a leap in transport technology. Unfortunately, Switzerland doesn’t seem to realize the need for this innovation yet.