2024 with 44,000 More Transit Truck Trips Through Switzerland

Last year, 960,000 trucks traveled on the roads through the Swiss Alps, 44,000 more than the previous year. The rail share decreased from 72 to 70.3 percent due to numerous construction sites. This is revealed in the latest report on cross-Alpine freight transport published by the Federal Office of Transport (BAV) on March 20, 2025.

(Bern) In 2024, there were extraordinarily many construction-related restrictions on the North-South rail corridor. A significant event was the three-week total closure of the Rhine Valley Railway between Karlsruhe and Basel during the summer. Efficient alternative routes without significant detours were not available. In Italy, the Luino route and the Milan-Domodossola route were also closed for an extended period last year. This shows that on an international level, construction site planning for larger closures is still not functioning well. The total closures without sufficient diversion options led to market share losses for rail transport.

Meanwhile, road transport in cross-Alpine freight transport through Switzerland in 2024 was largely normal. The only major exception was the multi-week closure and subsequently restricted operation on the A13 in the Misox due to severe weather. This led to a shift of truck trips from San Bernardino to Gotthard.

The target value of a maximum of 650,000 cross-Alpine truck trips was still exceeded by around 310,000 trips.

The federal government continues its commitment to shifting cross-Alpine freight transport to rail. Together with Belgium, Switzerland has taken over the presidency of the newly established North Sea-Rhine-Mediterranean freight corridor at the beginning of 2025. This aims to ensure that capacity management and construction site planning are coordinated even more internationally and that sufficient capacities are provided on the diversion routes.

Expansion of Rail Freight Transport on the Left Bank of the Rhine

In February 2025, Federal Councillor Albert Rösti and French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot also signed a declaration of intent for the expansion of rail freight transport on the left bank of the Rhine – an important access route to the NEAT. In autumn 2025, the Federal Council will provide a comprehensive update on the status of the shift and further measures in the next shift report.

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