It is made necessary by strong regulations on truck transport,[18] and is enabled by properly coordinated intermodal logistics.

There is a national integrated ticketing system for rail, bus and other modes of transport, grouped in tariff networks.

[25] Three quarters of the Swiss rail network is at standard-gauge, comprising 3,773 km (2,344.4 mi), administered mostly by three companies.

The Schweizerische Südostbahn AG (SOB) owns railway lines in Central and Eastern Switzerland.

Since the early 1990s, it operates a long-distance service between St. Gallen (Romanshorn until 2013) and Lucerne under the name Voralpen Express.

[10] Since 2020, the SOB also operates the Treno Gottardo over the old Gotthard railway between Basel SBB/Zurich HB and Locarno, and since 2021 the Aare Linth between Bern and Chur (both are IR services).

Another railway line connects the border stations of Koblenz (Switzerland) and Waldshut (Germany) via a bridge over the High Rhine.

Deutsche Bahn (DB) operates long-distance trains from Germany to Swiss cities, including Intercity-Express (ICE) services to Basel SBB, Zürich HB, Bern, Chur and Interlaken Ost.

DB also operates an InterCity (IC) service between Zürich HB and Stuttgart Hbf, and an Interregio-Express (IRE) over the High Rhine line between Basel Badischer Bahnhof and Friedrichshafen Hafen.

On the other hand, SBB runs EuroCity (EC) services between Zurich HB and München Hbf, via Bregenz in Austria.

The Léman Express is a commuter rail system linking Geneva with stations in Switzerland and France.

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) operates the Railjet and the Transalpin (a EC service) between Zurich HB and several destinations in Austria.

These services run between Genève-Cornavin and Milano Centrale or even Venezia Santa Lucia via the Simplon Tunnel.

Located in the eastern Swiss Alps, it links Arosa, Disentis, Davos and St. Moritz with Chur in the canton of Grisons (Graubünden).

Chur and Landquart are RhB's rail junctions with the Swiss Federal Railways' standard gauge network.

The Oberalp Pass is the highest point on this line at 2,033 m (6,670 ft) above sea level, and lies at the upper end of the Rhine valley.

Brig in the canton of Valais is a rail junction with standard gauge lines of Swiss Federal Railways and BLS.

A one-day trip in panoramic-view cars takes tourists from St. Moritz to Zermatt, or vice versa, through some of the most spectacular scenery of the Alps.

The section from Montreux to Zweisimmen, approximately 63 km (39 mi) long, is part of the "Golden Pass Panorama" trip from Montreux to Interlaken (and further to Lucerne), a trip which combines rides on the MOB, for some connections the BLS, and from Interlaken onwards the Zentralbahn (zb).

[7][12] From Interlaken, the narrow-gauge Brünigbahn section of the Zentralbahn (zb) runs 74 km (46 mi) further to Lucerne.

[4] The Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB) is a 24 km (15 mi) long line from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald.

The Chemin de fer Martigny–Châtelard (MC) is 19 km (12 mi) long, with one rack railway section, in the canton of Valais.

It runs from Martigny to Le Châtelard VS and connects with the Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway in France, the joint services being marketed as Mont-Blanc Express.

The commuter rail networks of Zurich, Basel, St. Gallen, Geneva, Schaffhausen and Ticino provide also cross-border transportation services into Austria, Germany, France and Italy, respectively.

The Italian Milan S Lines includes a service operating until the Swiss border station of Chiasso.

The 2017 Index found Switzerland captures high value for money relative to the average ratio of performance to cost among European countries.

CHF 426 million (or 4.8%) were contributed by the common weal (accident and health insurances, environmental funds etc.).

CHF 328 millions (15.9%) were contributed by the common weal (accident and health insurances, environmental funds etc.).

From 1970 the Federal Government has become more involved in upgrading the railways, especially in urban areas and on trunk routes under the Rail 2000 project.

In addition, two major trans-alpine routes—the Gotthard Railway and the Lötschberg approach to the Simplon—were rebuilt under the NRLA project.