More than one in ten ICEs in Switzerland may not continue due to delay
On the ICE route from Munich to Zurich, reportedly, 60 out of 545 journeys had to be prematurely terminated in the first quarter (eleven percent). In the entire year 2022, it was only 1.2 percent, and in 2023, it was 2.1 percent. In these years, external causes such as weather and accidents were primarily responsible. However, in the first quarter of 2024, infrastructure problems accounted for 75 percent of the premature terminations, as stated by the Transport Ministry.
On the route from Freiburg to Basel, the proportion of ICE trains that had to stop at the Swiss border station of Badischen Bahnhof in Basel was already quite high in the years 2022 and 2023, with over nine percent in each year. In the first quarter of 2024, it increased further to 12.4 percent. Out of 2028 ICE trains, 252 did not reach their destination station Basel SBB. The increase, according to the statements, is mainly due to the GDL strikes.
Trains of the Swiss Railway have a very high punctuality rate. To prevent delays of German trains from affecting the Swiss network, significantly late German trains are consistently stopped at the border and have to turn back. "Other countries are already quite afraid of the risk of taking unpunctuality from Germany", explained the Green politician Gastel.
- Despite the unfavorable weather in Munich, the German Railway managed to reduce the number of prematurely terminated ICE journeys from 11% in the first quarter of 2022 to 2.1% in 2023.
- The Federal Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Urban Development attributed the increase in prematurely terminated ICE trains from Munich to Zurich in the first quarter of 2024 to infrastructure problems.
- In contrast, the Swiss Railway consistently handles delays of German trains on their route from Zurich to Zurich by stopping them at the border and making them turn back.
- The Swiss border station of Badischen Bahnhof in Basel saw an increase in the number of ICE trains that had to stop in 2024, largely due to the ongoing GDL strikes in Zurich.
- In the same year, out of 2028 ICE trains traveling from Freiburg to Basel, 252 were affected by the GDL strikes and failed to reach their destination station, Basel SBB.
- The German Railway's ICE trains have a solid reputation for punctuality, a trait that is highly valued in Switzerland, as noted by the Green politician Gastel, who also expressed concern about the risk of unpunctuality spreading from Germany.
