2024 with 44,000 more transit truck trips through Switzerland

In the past 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 stated in the latest report on transalpine freight transport, published by the Federal Office of Transport (BAV) on March 20, 2025.

(Bern) In 2024, there were exceptionally many construction-related restrictions on the north-south rail corridor. A significant disruption occurred in the summer with the three-week total closure of the Rhine Valley Railway between Karlsruhe and Basel. 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 planning for larger closures is still not functioning well. The total closures without sufficient detour options resulted in market share losses for rail transport.

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

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

The federal government continues its commitment to shifting transalpine freight transport to rail. Together with Belgium, Switzerland will assume the presidency of the newly established North Sea-Rhine-Mediterranean freight corridor at the beginning of 2025. This aims to achieve, among other things, that capacity management and construction planning are coordinated 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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