ZVV looking at running night services on weekdays

Trains and buses in Zurich could soon run around the clock, under plans confirmed by a senior figure at the Zurich Transport Association (ZVV). Following the success of night services on weekends, plans are now afoot to extend the public transport network to run at all times, every day of the week.

Zurich Nachtnetz expansion in the pipeline, says ZVV executive

At a transport conference, the Head of Transport Planning at ZVV, Christian Vogt, told reporters that following the “very successful” expansion of their weekend night train or Nachtnetz services, they would now be looking to run the network on weekdays. This confirms reports from 2024, which revealed that Canton Zurich was considering running night S-Bahn and bus services every day.

From 2019 to 2023, the number of travellers on after-hours transport services in Zurich increased by 60 percent. Passenger numbers have been boosted significantly by the scrapping of the five-franc night surcharge ticket in 2020, and the expansion of the night S-Bahn network in 2022.

As it stands, an average of 30.000 people per day use the night network on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and in the early hours during major public events. Around 80 percent of users are leisure travellers, with the rest commuting for work. 

Where will the weekday night trains run in Zurich?

Vogt estimates that while “far fewer people” would use the service during the working week, even if numbers total 25 to 35 percent of weekend traffic, it’s still “a size where we can consider doing something." He added that with services running through the night on all work days, it would convince more drivers and early-bird commuters to ditch the car and take the train.

Though ZVV has yet to disclose where the weekday night services will run, Watson speculated that the first routes will focus on ferrying shift workers in and out of the centre of the city. As was demonstrated by the success of super-early morning services between French-speaking Switzerland and Geneva, regular night trains to and from Zurich Airport are also likely to be first on the list.

Plans would see Zurich join Geneva in offering weekday night trains

When it happens, Zurich will join Geneva in being the only Swiss cities to offer super early morning services every day, though Swiss Federal Railways is in the midst of creating a regular InterCity night network between said cities. When asked by Watson, Basel, Lucerne and Bern said they would not run a Nachtnetz during weekdays due to a lack of demand.

While Vogt’s statement is a new step towards week-round night trains, several questions still have to be answered. ZVV spokesperson Lucia Frei said that no concrete decisions have been made yet, and that more details would be revealed “at an appropriate time.” It will also take a while for the service to be expanded, with 2028 seen as the earliest start date.