Content reserved for subscribers
From December 15, around 60% of train and bus lines will change their timetable in the canton of Fribourg. At issue: the complete overhaul of the CFF timetable, which must undertake numerous infrastructure renewal works.
Travel time will be extended by a few minutes on the main CFF lines. © Alain Wicht-archives
Published on 05/21/2024
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Friborg users of public transport will have to review their habits from December 15, 2024. The new timetable, put out for consultation, includes significant changes, resulting from the complete overhaul of the CFF timetable. Issue for the canton.
Extended journeys The complete overhaul of the CFF timetable should allow the completion of numerous renovation works on the railway infrastructure, which is much older in French-speaking Switzerland than in the rest of the country. The travel time for mainline relationships is extended for the next ten years. With the 2025 timetable, the result of tough negotiations between the SBB and the Western Switzerland Transport Conference, the journey will take, for example, one to two minutes longer between Bern and Friborg and two to three minutes between Friborg and Lausanne.
“There hasn’t been such an upheaval for several decades”
Jean-François Steiert
By domino effect, the timetables of around 60% of train and bus lines in regional traffic serving the canton of Friborg will be adapted, announced State Councilor Jean-François Steiert on Tuesday at a press conference. “There has not been such an upheaval for several decades,” notes the director of Territorial Development, Infrastructure and Mobility. Several educational establishments (orientation cycles and colleges) will also have to modify their timetables.
Gap The Palézieux knot must be reviewed in particular. The timetables for the Broye, Lac and Montbovon-Gruyères rail lines will be postponed by 15 minutes. Therefore, connections between CFF lines and regional buses are impacted in Palézieux, Romont, Payerne and Morat.
To compensate for the loss of connections, additional bus lines will be set up. This is the case between Châtel-Saint-Denis and Palézieux, given that connections will no longer be ensured to go to Friborg between the trains of the RER Bulle-Palézieux and those of the InterRegio (IR) 15 Lucerne-Geneva- Airport. In Broye, a new bus line will be created between Lcales and Domdidier to compensate for the loss of connections to Payerne. The total cost for public authorities of the changes due to the new timetable is estimated at around 7 million francs.
The Matran railway stop will be closed. To compensate, the frequency of buses on line 11 in the city will be increased. As a reminder, work on the new Avry-Matran station, located near the Avry Center commercial area, started this spring. The end of the work is scheduled for December 2025. In the Lake, the Montilier-Löwenberg station will only be connected to Berne once an hour, but it will have a new connection with Neuchâtel and Fribourg.
New offers The new timetable introduces the half-hour cadence without change between Fribourg, Murten and Neuchâtel from Monday to Sunday, including in the evening. Another notable change: a new line will connect Lausanne and Yverdon, via Romont, Friborg and Payerne. These trains, which will stop for example at Villars-sur-Glâne, Neyruz or Cottens, will run twice an hour every day and in the evening. The connection follows the route currently served by the RER Fribourg-Freiburg between Friborg and Romont.
Including the IR15, Romont will be connected to Lausanne three times per hour, while Palézieux will benefit from such a connection with Fribourg. Thanks to this extension, Vauderens and Oron will be served once an hour every day by a regional train, in the direction of Lausanne and Fribourg. Veveyse will also have a new bus line between La Verrerie, Saint-Martin and Châtel-Saint-Denis.
In Lausanne, connections will no longer be provided between the IR15 and trains heading to Valais. As compensation, a new link will be created between Palézieux and Vevey, via Puidoux (vine line). This option will save 10 to 11 minutes between Friborg and Vevey, by changing at Palézieux. For Valais, the journey will be reduced by 6 to 7 minutes from Fribourg, with two changes (in Palézieux and Vevey).
The BLS company will also contribute to strengthening the offer in Broye from Bern. Line S5 will run, from the timetable change, all day and every hour, to Avenches, instead of stopping at Morat. Line S52 will go to Murten, instead of turning back to Kerzers. During the week, the latter will push as far as Payerne during peak hours. The half-hourly rate will be ensured between Bern and Murten.
Traffic interrupted between Bern and Friborg for eight weeks in summer 2025
The new 2025 SBB timetable will not prevent occasional timetable changes, in particular interruptions of sections. Situations that will occur next year. Starting with the replacement of trains by buses planned between Friborg and Bern for eight weeks from June 27 to August 25, the CFF indicated on Tuesday. Or the replacement of trains by buses between Palézieux and Payerne due to the renewal of the infrastructure, from February 15 to June 9. Six billion francs will be invested by 2030 in French-speaking Switzerland.
One of the new features of the new CFF timetable is the service to Renens (VD) by mainline trains from or to all of Switzerland. This will allow 4,000 daily customers bound for the west of Lausanne to get off directly at Renens rather than changing trains at Lausanne station.
The new CFF timetable, which caused discontent among public authorities a year ago, now satisfies the French-speaking cantons. It will be the biggest timetable change in the region since Rail 2000 to meet expectations in terms of punctuality and the completion of major projects. Between Bienne and Geneva, customers will benefit from a half-hour rate, subject to a change in Renens (VD). Direct connections are maintained during peak hours.
>> New schedule available for consultation on the website www.tp-info.ch from May 23 to June 9
