Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) returned to profitability in the 2023 financial year for the first time since 2019. However, the pressure to cut costs and improve efficiency remains high. Passenger services transported 1.32 million people daily. In contrast, SBB Cargo's transport performance decreased by 7.5 percent.
The main drivers there were price pressure, the structural deficit in single wagonload traffic, and the economic slowdown. SBB further stabilized the rail system in 2023, despite record passenger numbers and ongoing construction work on the rail network – with around 20,000 construction sites last year.
Further increases in debt were halted at CHF 11.26 billion (2022: CHF 11.44 billion). However, the pressure to cut costs remains high. To ensure sustainable financing, SBB, which currently employs 34,987 people, aims to reduce its spending by approximately CHF 6 billion by 2030.
SBB Cargo claims to handle on average one seventh of Swiss freight transport, transporting 175,000 tons daily for customers, thereby reducing road traffic by 15,000 truck journeys per day and saving the environment 432,000 tons of CO2 annually.
SBB Cargo Switzerland's result improved by CHF 148 million in 2023 compared to the previous year, reaching a loss of CHF 40 million. This was primarily due to the impairment charge of CHF 128 million in the previous year.
Figure 3: SBB
Cargo International posted a loss of CHF 2.5 million in 2023 (2022: CHF -0.3 million). Transported volumes declined by 0.8 percent compared to the previous year due to the economic slowdown in Europe and ongoing infrastructure constraints. However, thanks to the passing on of cost increases to customers, freight revenues still increased by 1.6 percent. Cost drivers included additional personnel costs resulting from the increased need for locomotive drivers and ongoing infrastructure constraints in Germany (particularly construction sites and strikes).
In 2023, SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) reached the level of the record year 2019; increasing numbers of people are traveling by rail within Switzerland and to neighboring destinations in Europe, which is why long-distance services posted a profit for the first time in three years (2023: CHF 117 million, 2022: CHF -47 million). Together with the profits from SBB Real Estate before compensation payments (2023: CHF 281 million, 2022: CHF 269 million) and Energy (2023: CHF 78 million, 2022: CHF -165 million), this resulted in a profit of CHF 267 million (2022: CHF -245 million). The profit was pleasing, but not sufficient to significantly reduce the debt (11.26 billion Swiss francs, 2022: 11.44 billion Swiss francs), to offset the massive losses of previous years and to finance investments for the future, for example in new rolling stock.
Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of its employees, SBB mastered exceptional situations in 2023, such as the derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel and other major disruptions like those in La Chaux-de-Fonds or Renens.
SBB is an attractive employer and aims to remain so, even in light of the skilled labor shortage: By 2030, around one-fifth of the workforce will retire, and approximately 6,000 employees will need to be replaced. The railway is expected to continue its strong growth, with construction volume increasing. Today, around 25 percent more trains operate on SBB tracks than at the start of the Rail 2000 project.
To transport more goods by rail in a climate-friendly manner, SBB, with the support of the federal government, aims to put freight transport on an economically sustainable footing: The structural deficit in single-wagonload traffic of SBB Cargo, which has been wholly owned by SBB again since June 2023, is to be eliminated. Likewise, operations are to be made more efficient with the digital automatic coupler and automatic brake testing.
The pilot train "DAC+" was used to thoroughly test not only the digital automatic coupler (DAC) and the onboard communication system, but also future digital applications such as automatic brake testing, wagon sequence determination, electric uncoupling, and more. SBB Cargo launched the train in collaboration with Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, industry partners, and with the support of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT). The project results will be incorporated into the further development of DAC at the European level.
