With Switzerland due to welcome several major events to its towns and cities in 2025, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has confirmed that an extra 1.600 trains will run to compensate for higher passenger numbers. The public transport provider explained that they expect millions of people to attend events in the alpine nation next year.
In a statement, SBB confirmed that 1.600 special rail services will be used to cater to sporting, cultural, music and other events in 2025, more than double the number used in 2024 (650). 2.000 extra workers and customer service representatives will be deployed to help visitors and merrymakers get to their destinations on time.
SBB will use extra rail services to serve 1.400 different events in 2025. These "Extrafahrten" are designed to make sure that regular timetabled trains are not overloaded with passengers.
The company noted that compared to 2024, which saw a relative dearth of massive events in Switzerland, 2025 is expected to be fully loaded. The first major event will occur between May 13 to 17, when Basel hosts the Eurovision Song Contest.
250.000 people are expected to visit Switzerland’s city on the Rhine during the festivities, with SBB planning an extra 85 special trains to compensate. From June 12 to 22, Lausanne will host the Federal Gymnastics Festival, attracting 220.000 visitors and participants. 50 special trains will run during the event.
However, the largest event will come in the middle of summer, when Switzerland hosts the UEFA Women’s European Championships from July 2 to 27. 650.000 people from across the world are set to attend the tournament, which is expected to be the best-attended women’s Euros ever.
The event poses a challenge for SBB, as stadia in Basel, Bern, Geneva, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Sion, Thun and Zurich will be used during the tournament. For those interested, Switzerland will play their group stage games in St. Jakob-Park in Basel (versus Norway, July 2), Stadion Wankdorf in Bern (versus Iceland, July 6) and the Stade de Genève (versus Finland, July 10), while the final will be held back in Basel on July 27.
300 special SBB trains will be offered during the football tournament. Those heading to the game can use their ticket for a single, second-class journey from any part of Switzerland to the venue and back, free of charge.
Finally, to cater to the 350.000 visitors expected to attend the Austrian Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Mollis Canton Glarus, 160 special trains will run from August 29 to 31. These trips to the mountains will be run by SBB and the Südostbahn (SOB).
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