This December 15, trains are subject to the new CFF timetable. French-speaking Switzerland is more than ever disadvantaged by this great change. The new president of Ouestrail, Damien Cottier, notes the delay on our side of the Sarine. Interview.
Follow meThe new CFF timetable is now active and is changing the habits of many commuters in Romandie. The CFF themselves do not hesitate to describe it as “the biggest timetable change in French-speaking Switzerland for 20 years”. It replaces a previous system dating from the 2000s.
Among the most notable changes are the reinforced presence of Renens as a “hub” and the weakening of the direct line between Geneva and Neuchâtel. But many journey times are also extended, which will annoy more than one person in “Western Switzerland”, as they say in good federal French in Bern.
Do you want to know how your journeys will be impacted? All the information under this link, on the CFF website.
After the former Vaud states advisor Olivier Français, the French-speaking rail association Ouestrail is now run by another liberal-radical, the national advisor and group leader in Parliament, Damien Cottier. The Neuchâtel resident has managed to fit this new string to his bow into his already tight schedule. Interview.
Keystone
What is the current state of rail in French-speaking Switzerland and its number 1 priority?
Damien Cottier: He’s late. A huge amount of work to bring the installations into compliance and renew them must be carried out over the coming years. This led to the schedule being redesigned to allow these projects to take place. This is the basic condition for all future development.
“The upgrade of the Lausanne and Geneva stations is announced 15 years late”
Does the 2025 timetable weaken mobility in French-speaking Switzerland?
It is a compromise between the needs and expectations of customers and what the rail network is capable of supporting. We are talking about extending travel times by a few minutes, but I do not believe this should be seen as a weakening. Above all, the correspondence must be ensured.
“There are people in French-speaking Switzerland who take an earlier train to ensure they can arrive on time. This is no longer tenable”
This search for compromise has led to good solutions in certain places, notably the service to the West of Lausanne, the half-hourly pace of Pied-du-Jura in Lausanne or the extension of the RegioExpress offer towards Martigny . On the Lausanne–Geneva axis, the removal of a train was necessary to be able to carry out the work. This direct connection is only maintained during peak hours. This is very regrettable.
For a Neuchâtel resident like you, this will make traveling to Geneva more tedious, right?
“Yes, this is the weak point of this schedule”
Ouestrail is committed to ensuring that the supply of these trains is ensured at peak times over time and that their number can increase as the network becomes available, until reaching the objective of one connection per hour. full, or even every half hour with the arrangements in the Bussigny node and between Lausanne and Geneva. The change in Renens must also be able to take place as quickly as possible on the same platform.
The current SBB strategy therefore focuses on cadence rather than speed. Should we necessarily oppose the two?
I don’t think we can talk about strategy here: the SBB is trying to do its best to meet the rapidly growing demand and the imperative needs of network maintenance.
“Speed remains a key element in the competitiveness of public transport compared to the car”
More speed is a gain for the customer, but also for what we call “rail production”. With a reduced travel time, the same train can provide more services. This means fewer trains needed for the same offer. It is the same with the staff. This helps reduce costs.
In the 1980s, a Lausanne-Berne journey was planned in one hour, but this never happened. Should we consider these promises as a reflection of their times and agree to sacrifice them?
No, sacrificing this promise would lead to a two-speed network, no pun intended, between Western Switzerland and German-speaking Switzerland.
“We would isolate French-speaking Switzerland. This is not acceptable”
I recall that this principle was accepted by the people, in 1987 then in 2014, and by the Federal Chambers on several occasions. Its objective is, for the whole of Western Switzerland, to create a perfect Rail 2000 connection in Lausanne.
The more up-to-date and robust the infrastructure, the faster the trains can run. Your predecessor Olivier Français told us in 2023:
Is the crux of the French-speaking rail problem there?
French-speaking Switzerland has been the subject of major savings since the 1990s. Several stations have seen their facilities reduced with the removal of tracks and switches, weakening operations and the possibility of work.
“On the Lausanne–Berne axis, the promise of a new line has considerably reduced the means of maintaining the current one”
When the time came for western Switzerland in 2014 with the stations of Lausanne and Geneva and several projects such as the direct line between Neuchâtel and LaChaux-de-Fonds, the lengthening of procedures and frequent changes in standards made the implementation of this work with a strong impact on deadlines and costs. The delay in maintenance, to which is added the compliance of installations – we are thinking in particular of accessibility for people with reduced mobility – impact the work and resources of engineers and builders.
Between the German-speaking people who benefit from Rail 2000 and those who are fighting to improve “their” end of the network (towards Basel or Saint-Gall), defending French-speaking Switzerland is mission impossible in Bern?
In my opinion, we should not think like this in regionalist terms.
“There are not several parts of Switzerland, there is one Switzerland and Parliament must ensure balance at the national level”
Projects in Western Switzerland are useful for the entire network, this has been clearly understood in recent years. If Lausanne station cannot accommodate trains 400 meters long, it is impossible to run convoys of this length on all the lines passing through there, with an impact as far as St. Gallen. The doubling of the Lötschberg tunnel also offers redundancy possibilities for passenger and freight traffic between Southern and Northern Europe.
“We saw with the derailment in the Gotthard base tunnel that a redundancy of the system is necessary for strategic reasons”
French-speaking Switzerland must not drop out. It is clear that some measures are more regional, concerning small stations or crossing points on secondary networks, but these are not the most expensive infrastructures in the package.
There are decisions discussed and taken at the Federal Palace, but also within the CFF. Has Romandie been abandoned by the CFF?
I wouldn’t go that far, but it is true that the potential of our region has not always been integrated in recent years in the context of investments and rolling stock. This is a lack of anticipation. But the SBB has become aware of the growth possibilities in Western Switzerland. Let’s remember that around thirty years ago, we wanted to eliminate regional traffic between Geneva and La Plaine, the Tonkin line between Monthey and Saint-Gingolphe or even that between Bulle and Romont.
“It seems unthinkable today”
This late awareness of the CFF is reflected today in longer running hours, in direct seasonal offers, and in morning connections to Geneva-Airport. The fact that the network is saturated and that work is consuming the last available capacity is problematic.
“Everything falls at the same time, it must be said”
In Zurich, it is difficult to attract more customers, while in western Switzerland, the modal shares in public transport remain low.
“The ‘leisure’ and ‘international traffic’ sectors are largely forgotten and the network at rush hour is saturated. This must be heard”
Why are the CFF developing a direct link to Florence and Livorno and then perhaps Rome, from Zurich – but not from Lausanne or Geneva?
Many transformations in stations are planned: is French-speaking Switzerland destined to be a giant construction site during the 2020s and 2030s?
It’s not just the stations.
“The French-speaking railway as a whole will be a major project from Bern to Geneva, from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Brig”
Delays at major stations like Geneva and Lausanne are known, but not yet stabilized and remain very problematic. This is also the case for smaller projects, such as the Gléresse tunnel, which makes it possible to correct the last single-track section between Lausanne and Bienne, and is three years behind schedule. As for the third track between Morges and Denges, it has not yet received final authorization, although it should have been put into service in 2025. The procedures are increasingly complex and lengthy, the evolution of standards and directives from the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) and the SBB lead to continual adaptations of projects, postponements and additional costs.
“We must correct this trend”
The most worrying thing is that with the delay with these projects and the explosion of the necessary resources, announced a few days ago by the OFT, the offer for 2035 cannot realistically be put in place. before 2045-2050 in western Switzerland and risks already being largely exceeded when it opens.
