Train travel in Switzerland: What new international routes are being planned?

Thanks to a boom in demand for long-distance rail travel, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and other providers are expected to launch a bevvy of new routes over the next few years. Here’s what passengers, commuters and holidaymakers can expect:

Expat guide to new international rail routes from Switzerland

Between 2025 and 2027, Swiss public transport providers will radically expand the number of rail services between Switzerland and the rest of Europe. Instead of catering to cross-border workers and regular commuters, these routes will focus on the rising demand from tourists for fast, green and convenient ways to holiday in the alpine nation and overseas.

This push begins at the end of 2025, when SBB will expand two routes between Switzerland and Italy. From the next timetable change in December, the direct trains between Zurich and Bologna will be extended to the tourist hotspot of Florence, while some services between Zurich and Genoa will continue to the port city of Livorno.

Though these trains will not rival the 300 kilometre an hour Italian Frecciarossa trains for speed - SBB will use Giruno trains, which have a top speed of 250 km/h - the direct routes are still set to make journeys faster. Watson reported that SBB is also considering a direct service from Zurich to Rome, but this has yet to be confirmed.

SBB plans new direct train from Switzerland to South Tyrol

Though SBB has refused to comment on the idea, “well-informed sources” from CH Media and reporting from the latest Forum Train Europe event have confirmed that the company will also launch a direct train from Zurich via Innsbruck to Bolzano, South Tyrol. The journey will take six hours in total, falling to five once the Brenner Base Tunnel opens in 2032.

South Tyrol, with its breathtaking landscape, stunning towns and sumptuous food, is a tourist hotspot for people from Switzerland. 400.000 people from the country chose to holiday in the region last year.

SBB and Deutsche Bahn to massively expand German-Swiss rail routes

Moving northwards, SBB and German rail companies are also expected to expand the number of rail services between Switzerland and Germany. These will focus on the rail line between Basel and Frankfurt, and will only be possible once repairs and upgrades are completed in Germany, which should be finished by December 2026.

From this date, Deutsche Bahn (DB) is set to launch services between German cities and the town of Brig, high in the Swiss Alps. In a reversal of recent fortunes - which have seen SBB halt DB trains at Basel due to excessive delays - the number of services between Germany, Bern, Zurich and Chur will rise.

At SBB, late 2026 will see the launch of direct trains between Lugano and Hamburg via Lucerne and Basel. There is also likely to be a rise in services between Basel and Milan via Bern, but this is only expected in 2027.

New Swiss rail service to London hangs in the balance

New night train services are also in the offing in 2026. Though plans for evening services to Rome and Barcelona have been shelved thanks to budget cuts, the company still hopes to offer a seasonal night train from Basel to Copenhagen and Malmö. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) will also introduce new night train carriages on the Zurich to Hamburg, Zurich to Amsterdam (end of 2025) and Zurich to Vienna (spring 2026) routes.

Finally, SBB’s most ambitious project yet is still in the works: a direct train from Swiss cities to London. Though the company and the government are very much in favour of the idea, the route would require SBB to purchase its own high-speed trains and at least one Swiss station to convert itself so that it can handle passport and customs services. This means the first Swiss trains in the Channel Tunnel should run in the 2030s.