“Passengers will not be affected”

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With an annual loss of 245 million francs, the Swiss Federal Railways once again published a clearly negative result. SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot (60) talks to Blick about fiscal year 2022.

SBB again wrote dark red numbers. The railways should save six billion francs over the next few years, they also need to invest a lot, and they have announced wage improvements for 2023. How does it work?
Vincent ducro: We have always said that the effects of Corona will continue for a while. In addition, there were other difficulties associated with inflation and the impending lack of energy. We have big plans, we want to be more efficient and reduce our costs. The federal government’s stabilization package will help us in this regard. In addition, we will continue to grow significantly in both regional and long-distance transportation in the coming years.

Where do you start with the red pen?
We have clearly prioritized investments. Many projects that will increase our efficiency are still in progress. We are working on a new traffic management system and a new resource allocation system. These will allow us to deal with more traffic growth with a less sharp increase in costs. Passengers will not be affected.

Do you also save on personnel?
NO. We’re splitting the salaries. We must remain an attractive employer. We only save on our administration. This is reduced by ten percent.

Does the shortage of qualified personnel also affect SBB?
About a quarter of our staff will leave us to retire by 2030. It will be difficult to change all these people. The situation of the train drivers was greatly alleviated. We have 350 apprenticeships per year and have received over 7000 applications. We mostly have difficulties in personnel working on the track, such as catenary fitters and shunt workers.

Price increases are determined by Alliance Swisspass for all public transport, not just SBB. They expect a price increase. Are there guidelines for this?
No, it’s too early for that. It depends on how much the Confederation and cantons paid for compensation and what cost increases can be expected. The last price increase was over six years ago. Since then, inflation has increased by seven percent. SBB will work with the industry for a moderate price increase. More than 200 companies are involved in this process. Alliance Swisspass will make an offer to the price manager before the summer vacation.

What about the spread of night train services? Wouldn’t it be time to expand there under our own power?
Night trains can only be operated jointly and with public support. With our colleagues in Austria, we will continue to expand, where possible, things that are simple and easy to implement, such as our current offer. You can only manage the two routes to Rome/Naples and Barcelona with the new CO₂The law passes. This provides support for nonprofit routes.

What about new goals?
If there is enough demand, we will consider other destinations.

By 2050, the share of railways in total traffic will increase from 21 percent to 24 percent. Why so humble?
After nearly 20 years of stagnation, achieving a three percent increase in market share in a growing market is a big step!

Source :Blick