Though trains in Switzerland were more punctual than ever last year, a new analysis from the Luzerner Zeitung has revealed that some services are delayed far more frequently than others. Alongside night trains and international services, the analysis found that a few domestic routes also suffer from significant delays.
In 2024, 93,2 percent of public transport services run by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) arrived on time, the best punctuality rate ever recorded. The feat is made even more impressive by what being “on time” means in Switzerland: for SBB a train is only on time if it arrives at a stop less than three minutes late, far stricter than in Germany (six minutes), the Netherlands, France and Italy (five minutes).
However, the Luzerner Zeitung noted that while services are generally becoming more punctual, some routes remain rife with delays. To find out which are the most delayed, the newspaper analysed 5.307 of the 5.584 different domestic and international rail connections in Switzerland. Here’s what they found:
In 2024, the most delayed train service in Switzerland was the evening EuroCity (EC) service from Venice to Geneva via Brig. Last year, the train arrived late in the Swiss city more than 75 percent of the time, with an average delay of 20 minutes.
It was followed by the afternoon RailJet service from the Slovakian capital Bratislava to Zurich, which arrived late roughly the same number of times. The EC between Zurich and Munich - last year’s most delayed train - took third place, with the newspaper noting the train is late during “practically all times of the day.”
Night train services to and from Switzerland are also notoriously unreliable. The service from Vienna to Zurich arrived in the country late 65 percent of the time last year, with an average delay of 45 minutes. NightJet also struggled for punctuality on the lines from Amsterdam, Graz and Hamburg to Zurich.
Of course, at this point train fans in Switzerland and SBB itself would argue that in the vast majority of cases, these international trains are already late before they arrive in Switzerland, and only become late once they leave. In Germany, for instance, just 62,5 percent of Deutsche Bahn trains ran on time in 2024, and in August last year, the company admitted that it had “lost control” of its timetables.
The Luzerner Zeitung noted that on routes from Germany and Italy, delays are at their most severe at the point when the train crosses the Swiss border, after which punctuality improves. On the S30 train between Locarno and the towns on the eastern bank of Lake Maggiore, for example, all services that crossed the Swiss border were delayed less by the time they reached Locarno.
In terms of the most delayed domestic train in Switzerland, in 2024, the title went to the 8.28pm InterCity (IC) 6 train from Basel to Brig. This service was considered delayed 20 percent of the time last year, the worst punctuality rate found among services which don't cross the border. Interestingly, the train is running at its latest as it leaves Bern and passes through Thun and Spiez, with an average delay of five minutes.
In terms of the longest average delay, the title was won by the 10.45pm S9 service from Rafz to Uster via Bülach and Zurich, which leaves Rafz with an average delay of eight minutes. While a delay before the train even sets off seems odd, the Luzerner Zeitung explained that it occurs when the train is being repositioned.
The IC5 evening train from Zurich to Biel / Bienne took second place, with an average delay of just over five minutes.