Rail 2000

In 1977 after almost six years work, the GVK submitted a 400-page report, which recommended the construction of a new railway between Geneva and Lake Constance and between Basel and Olten.

[2][3] A Federal Government committee supported SBB's proposal but considered that investment should be initially concentrated on the sections of route between Basel, Olten and Bern.

To the contrary, the canton of Solothurn complained that the new line would benefit only the large centres and that rural areas would be disadvantaged.

This was met with a positive response from the political parties and associations; the Neue Zürcher Zeitung called the concept attractive, flexible and evolutionary.

Additional improvements included: Due to the delayed introduction of the new ETCS train control system, the new and upgraded sections of line initially had conventional signalling technology with a maximum speed of only 160 km/h.

Since March 2007, the entire new line operated with ETCS, allowing an increase to the maximum speed to 200 km/h since December 2007.

The resulting reduction in travel time has allowed the regular interval timetable to be stable as it can now cope with some delays.

As part of Rail 2000, in order to introduce language neutrality, the former regional local trains (German: Regionalzüge) were renamed Regio (abbr.

The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) is currently reviewing the differing needs of the cantons and railways for a 2nd stage of Rail 2000.

This, is being considered together with the federal government's overall review of funding for ongoing public transport projects, including the AlpTransit, high-speed connections to France and Germany and the Geneva cross-city line.

The Swiss Federal Railways outlined its ideas for the 2nd Stage in a press conference in April 2006 with the FOT.

It emphasised the acceleration of the east-west link and the inclusion of Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, Interlaken and St. Gallen as nodes for the regular interval timetable in addition to Zürich and Bern.