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From Switzerland to Sweden47 million subsidies for a Basel-Malmö night train
Parliament wants to subsidize a new night train connecting Switzerland to Sweden via Copenhagen from 2026, despite budget cuts. Critics are fuse.
A line connecting Basel to Sweden should see the light of day next spring.
© SBB CFF FFSNotice to lovers of night train travel: they should soon be able to go from Basel to Malmö, Sweden, via Copenhagen. Indeed, starting next April, three night trains per week should circulate on this line in each direction, six per week, according to the German SRF television on Sunday.
If this night line can be on track, it is thanks to the financial aid granted by the Parliament within the framework of the CO2 law. Recall that at the origin, he had to release 30 million francs per year for international rail links, especially at night. But due to austerity measures, this amount was reduced to 10 million per year from 2025 to 2030, or 60 million in all. And on this sum, 47 million will be invested in the only line for Malmö until 2030, the Federal Transport Office said on Friday.
Each race will therefore be subsidized up to 30,000 francs, to cover the operating costs, that is, railway tolls, energy, staff and rolling stock. The latter comes from the current Zurich-Amsterdam link, which will be equipped with new wagons in December.
Critics on the left and right
Critics are already fused. The UDC judges this line “without future” and speaks of a “waste of public money”. On the left, the PS and the Greens denounce them the drastic reduction of the aid initially provided by Bern, which jeopardizes the development of the night trains network, according to them. The Greens also filed in December a petition asking the Federal Council to go back.
It remains to be seen whether the grant will indeed be paid. Parliament will have to rule as part of the budget in December. Nothing is therefore yet acted.
