class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>
In Monday’s general vote, the National Council approved all four federal resolutions, with only one dissenting vote each. The company is now ready for the final vote.
The Federal Council adopted its message on rail expansion in August last year. He asked Parliament to receive a further 2.6 billion francs from the railway infrastructure fund.
Parliament wants to fulfill many wishes
This includes the construction of a nine-kilometre-long rail tunnel between Morges VD and Perroy VD on the Lausanne – Geneva route. According to current planning, this project alone will result in additional costs of approximately 1.3 billion francs. The tunnel is expected to be completed by 2035 or 2040 at the latest.
It is also planned to expand the Lötschberg Base Tunnel continuously to two lanes instead of only partially. The state government also decided to increase appropriations for the Brüttenertunnel and the expansion of the Zürich-Stadelhofen train station. It also wants to provide the resources for an extensive expansion of the Geneva and Olten SO train stations.
The Council of States discussed the issue during the winter session. On the one hand, at the request of his Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF-S), he decided to increase the credit to 250 million francs. The money will be used, among other things, to continue the planning for the split in Pratteln BL, the expansion of the Ebikon LU train station and the realization of the Morgartenring in Basel.
On the other hand, the small chamber also increased loans for the project planning of the double-track extension of Tiefenwinkel on the Zurich-Chur axis and for studies on Western Switzerland. To prevent further deterioration of the timetable in western Switzerland, additional projects worth 100 million francs will be carried out there.
Finally, during the winter session, at the request of a committee minority, the Council of States approved 100 million francs for pre-investments in the Meilibach tunnel. This will one day connect the Zimmerberg base tunnel underground with the Thalwil ZH – Pfäffikon SZ route.
Financing through railway infrastructure funds
The majority of the Committee for Transport and Telecommunications of the National Council (KVF-N) agreed with the proposals of the Federal Council and the decisions of the Council of States.
For her, the focus is on the importance of individual measures for the development of the affected regions, she wrote in a statement at the end of January. Because the measures are financed through the Railway Infrastructure Fund, there are no financial policy arguments against implementation of the measures. The Finance Commission also raised no objections.
Controversial funds for ‘poor relatives’
What was controversial in the preparatory consultation in the National Council Committee and in Monday’s debate was the inclusion of further projects in French-speaking Switzerland with the aim of preventing timetable deterioration. A minority of the Commission opposed the corresponding increase in appropriations of 100 million francs, but there was no majority in the Council.
The majority of the Council of States and the Commission wanted to spend 100 million francs in a place where no projects were ready for implementation, criticized Christian Imark (SVP/SO) on behalf of the minority. This cannot eliminate the dissatisfaction in French-speaking Switzerland, which he understands.
Imark received support from the GLP faction. Transport Minister Albert Rösti also argued that, in view of the next announcement about the rail expansion in 2026, there is no point in blocking funds unnecessarily.
Nowadays, Western Switzerland is the ‘poor cousin’, Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini (Greens/GE) contradicted. Commission spokesperson Michael Töngi (Greens/LU) emphasized that this was a long-term perspective, namely that the deterioration caused by the 2025 timetable would not be perpetuated. (SDA)
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
