The CEO of Swiss Federal Railways has admitted that the company will be spending tens of millions of francs on fixing its fleet of double-decker high-speed trains. Vincent Ducrot said that the “shaky” FV-Dosto was a far cry from the train they had hoped to receive.
Purchased from Bombardier and first launched in 2018, the 62 FV-Dosto trains in the SBB fleet were designed to be used on most long-distance public transport services between Swiss cities. At an initial cost of 1,9 billion francs, at the time it was the most expensive train order in SBB history.
However, it was not long before the trains started to experience major issues, chief among which was the fact that it was prone to shake and jerk while underway causing discomfort among passengers. Sub-strength bacteria in its toilet system was also blamed for the foul smells in Zurich HB, especially during the summer.
“The train we got is not the train we ordered,” Ducrot told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, adding that buying them in the first place “was a mistake.” He added that the company has had to fix and adjust “more than a thousand” aspects of the train to make them run properly, "that was a lesson for us".
Now, SBB has announced that all 62 FV-Dosto trains will be upgraded and renovated so that they can run quieter and more smoothly. The first of these trains will be tested in 2025 before the whole fleet is refitted.
However, this will come at a cost: though he didn’t quote an exact figure, Ducrot said the conversions would cost somewhere in the high double-digit millions to fix.
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