Switzerland has a dense network of roads and railways. The Swisspublictransport network has a total length of 24,500 kilometres (15,200 mi) and has more than 2,600 stations and stops.
The crossing of theAlps is an important route for European transportation, as the Alps separate Northern Europe from Southern Europe. Alpine railway routes began in 1882 with theGotthard Railway, with its centralGotthard Rail Tunnel, followed in 1906 by the Simplon Tunnel and theLötschberg Tunnel in 1913. As part of theNew Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA) in 2007, theLötschberg Base Tunnel opened, followed by theGotthard Base Tunnel opened in 2016.[1]
The Swiss road network is funded byroad tolls and vehicle taxes. Private cars and commercial trucks must purchase avignette to use themotorways; this costs 40Swiss francs per calendar year. As of 2000[update], the Swiss motorway network has a total length of 1,638 kilometres (1,018 mi) and has also—with an area of 41,290 km2 (15,940 sq mi)—one of the highest motorway densities in the world.
Zurich Airport is Switzerland's largest international flight gateway, handling 24.9 million passengers in 2013.[2] The second-largest airport,Geneva Cointrin, handled 14.4 million passengers (2013) and the third-largestEuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg 6.5 million passengers; both airports are shared with France.
Switzerland has approved billions offrancs for the improvement of its public-transportation infrastructure. Themodal split for public transportation is one of the highest in Europe, standing at 21.3% in 2010.[3] In many cities with a population above 100,000, the modal split for public transportation lies above 50%.
Switzerland has an extensive and reliablepublic transport network (see e.g.public transport in Zurich). Due to theclock-face schedule, the differentmodes of transports are well integrated. There is a nationalintegrated ticketing system for public transport which is organised intariff networks (for all train andbus services and some boat lines,cable cars andfuniculars). For non-Swiss tourists, travelling by train, bus and boat in the country is facilitated with theSwiss Travel Pass.[4]Eurail andInterrailrail passes are both vailid in Switzerland.
Many Swiss railway stations havebicycle parking (or abicycle-parking station) andpark and ride, known as P+Rail,[5] and many of them also offerMobility Carsharing.
Switzerland has a very high density of railway network, with an average of 122 kilometres (76 mi) of track for every 1,000 km2 (76 mi per 390 sq mi; average of 46 km (29 mi) in theEU).[6] In 2008, each Swiss citizen travelled, on average, 2,422 km (1,505 mi) by rail, which makes them the most frequent users of rail transport.[7] There are only a fewhigh-speed railway lines.
Many of the Swissstandard-gauge railway lines are part of the nationwideSwiss Federal Railways (SBB) system, although other standard gauge lines are operated by independent companies such asBLS AG orSüdostbahn. In addition numerousnarrow-gauge railways are operated, the largest company of its kind being theRhaetian Railway. In total, 5,100 km (3,200 mi) of rail network are used.
Swiss Federal Railways run some 5,000 passenger train services covering about 274,000 kilometres (170,000 mi) daily. Half of these train services are long-distance; the other half are regional and suburban services. In 2013, 366 million passengers used the Swiss Federal Railways.
Rail transport in Switzerland also includes acar and truck transportation service (German:Autoverlad) on some lines.
Urban commuter rail networks, known mostly asS-Bahn, are focused on the country's cities:Zurich,Geneva,Basel,Bern,Fribourg,Lausanne,Lucerne,St. Gallen,Schaffhausen andChur.Aargau S-Bahn provides regional train services mainly in the canton of Aargau,transN in the canton of Neuchâtel,RegionAlps in the canton of Valais andTILO in the canton of Tessin and the Italian province of Lombardy. Some services nearLake Constance (Bodensee) also operate forBodensee S-Bahn.
Several cities, such as Basel, Bern and Zurich, have atram network. During the mid 20th century, some cities (such asLugano andWinterthur) replaced their tram lines withtrolleybus lines.
Lausanne is the only city with a metro system (Lausanne Metro), which includes two lines: one islight rail; the other, a fully automated metro, opened in 2008. After its opening, Lausanne replacedRennes as the smallest city in the world to have a full metro system.
Trains cannot climb steep gradients, so it is necessary to build large amounts of track in order to gain height gradually. Transversals through the Alps were made possible with the use of hidden circular tunnels, which are calledspiral railways. In the case of extremely mountainous terrain, railway engineers opted for the more economical narrow-gauge construction.
The many railway viaducts of the Rhaetian Railway in thecanton of Graubünden, built for the most part in the early 20th century, have become a tourist attraction as well as a necessary transport system, drawing rail enthusiasts from all over the world.
Some railways were built only for tourist purposes as the Gornergrat or theJungfraujoch, Europe's highest station in the Bernese Oberland, at an altitude of 3,454 metres (11,330 ft).
In response to the increasing need for transport capacity and the cost of ground surface infrastructures, an underground transportation system has been proposed and studied. The trains would use linear motor and magnetic levitation to reach speeds about 500 km/h (310 mph). The project is not likely to be realised in the near future, but a license for application has been deposited for a trial line between Geneva and Lausanne.
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Switzerland has a network of two-lane national roads. These roads usually lack a median orcentral reservation. Some stretches are controlled-access, in that all traffic must enter and exit through ramps and must cross using grade separations.
Two of the important motorways are theA1, running fromSt. Margrethen in northeastern Switzerland'scanton of St. Gallen through to Geneva in southwestern Switzerland, and theA2, running from Basel in northwestern Switzerland toChiasso in southern Switzerland'scanton of Ticino, using theGotthard Road Tunnel.
Autobahn (plural:Autobahnen) is the German name; inFrench-speaking Switzerland they are known asautoroutes, and in Italian-speaking Switzerland they are known asautostrade (singular:autostrada). Swiss motorways have generalspeed limits of 120 km/h (75 mph).
| Total | National roads | Cantonal roads | Municipal roads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 71,345.6 km 44,332.1 mi | 1,763.6 km 1,095.9 mi | 18,136 km 11,269 mi | 51,446 km 31,967 mi |
Local bus services cover the whole country.Postauto cover the smaller urban areas and every region not connected to the rail network.
Switzerland also has a well-developed network ofcar sharing organised by theMobility Carsharingcooperative.
Taxi services are also a common and convenient option for travelers looking for a quick and straightforward way to reach their hotels, corporate meetings, or other locations in Switzerland.
Another type of passenger transport service is airport transfers. They often utilize luxurious vehicles equipped with amenities.These services encompass the provision of transportation from the airport to various destinations, such as hotels, business meetings, headquarters of international organizations, or tourist attractions. Whether for business or leisure, airport transfers offer a transition between flights and final destinations, making them an essential component of modern travel.[8]
Cycling is included and promoted in theSwiss constitution since 2018. Concretely, the authorities must develop bike-lanes and related infrastructures.[9]
The Asian trend of bike sharing came to Switzerland in 2017 with new companies emerging such asLime, PubliBike and Smide. The Singaporean-based, former companyoBike launched in the city of Zürich on 5 July 2017.[10]
As of 2024, nearly one in two bikes sold in Switzerland was anebike (Switzerland has 5.2 million bicycles and around 1.4 million e-bikes).[11]
Zurich Airport (IATA:ZRH,ICAO:LSZH) also calledKloten Airport, located inKloten,canton of Zürich, is Switzerland's largest international flight gateway and hub toSwiss International Air Lines andLufthansa. The airport handled 27.6 million passengers in 2016.[12] In 2003, Zurich International completed an expansion project in which it built a car park, a midfield terminal, and an automated underground train to move passengers between the existing terminal complex and the new terminal. Zurich International lost traffic whenSwissair shut down its operations (most of its assets were then taken over by the formerCrossair). WhenLufthansa took over its successorSwiss International Air Lines (SWISS), traffic grew again.
Zurich Airport's railway station (Zürich Flughafen) is underneath the terminal. There are trains to many parts of Switzerland; frequentS-Bahn services, plus direct Inter-regio and intercity services toWinterthur, Bern, Basel andLucerne (Luzern). By changing trains atZürich Hauptbahnhof most other places in Switzerland can be reached in a few hours.
The second largest airport of the country,Geneva Airport (IATA:GVA,ICAO:LSGG), handled 16.5 million passengers in 2016.[12] The airport has a single runway, the longest of its kind in Switzerland at 3,900 metres (12,800 ft), built in 1960. The runway could only be built after an agreement was reached with France to exchange a piece of territory since it wouldn't otherwise fit entirely in Switzerland. In compensation, the airport has a French sector in its terminals, and therefore flights incoming/outgoing from/to France are considered domestic and a segregated road leads to the airport from France without crossing the Swiss customs.
A turnaround occurred in 1996 when Swissair decided to abandon all the intercontinental routes departing from Geneva except for New York and Washington (that is, all its African destinations). The airport then requested the Swiss Federal Government to implement an open skies policy for Geneva and abolish the legal monopoly enjoyed by Swissair. Following the open skies policy, Geneva Airport now serves over 110 direct destinations from more than 55 airlines. It is the main hub foreasyJet Switzerland and a focus airport forSwiss International Air Lines, as well as home to the executive office ofIATA.
Road access to the airport is provided by highways: It is directly connected to the rest of Switzerland by the A1 highway and France via the A40. It has its own railway station,Geneva Airport railway station, from the Swiss Federal Railways (CFF) located right besides the main terminal with trains regularly departing to the rest of Switzerland, towards Neuchâtel, Lausanne-Fribourg-Bern-Zürich, and Lausanne-Vevey-Montreux-Sion-Brig and stopping in all cases in Geneva main train station located in the city centre, which lies only 7 minutes away from the airport by train. Geneva train station is also connected viaHSR to France, and to theLéman Express rail network. The airport is also served by several Genevan public transport lines such as trolleybus line 10.
The third largest Swiss airport isEuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg which handled 7.3 million passengers in 2016[12] and is located entirely on French territory.
In addition,Sion Airport is a small airport inSion (Valais) andSt. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport nearLake Constance.
Switzerland is a landlocked country and has only small ports on its rivers, such as the Port of Basel. There are also ports on larger lakes, such as Lake Constance (e.g.Romanshorn.Rorschach; the latter two were historically used bytrain ferries).
In 2010, Switzerland had 1,681 kilometres (1,045 mi) of natural gas pipelines, 95 kilometres (59 mi) ofcrude oil pipelines, and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) of refined product pipelines.[citation needed]
The Swiss transport system is overseen by several offices within theFederal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. The principal such offices are the:
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