Will the SBB pull the plug on Eurocity in Munich? UN Secretary General: “Two-state solution inevitable” +++ Damage to property in Zurich

Last Sunday was such a day: of the seven Eurocity trains from Munich to Zurich, only six reached their destination, four of them with delays of up to 24 minutes. Experienced travelers on this route are no longer shocked by such conditions: the Eurocity trains between the two cities are notoriously late and unreliable.

When we left St.Gallen for Zurich last year three quarters of Eurocities late. The average delay was twenty minutes, even taking into account the on-time trains. This is not only problematic for international travelers, but also for domestic traffic. The Eurocity trains are integrated into the local timetable and provide a fast connection from Zurich to St.Gallen or vice versa every two hours.

To improve the situation, those responsible at Deutsche Bahn (DB) and SBB must now resort to a brutal method. The DMM portal reported this this week. Accordingly, the trains should start in December 2024 only on the Munich-St.Gallen route and vice versa. Travelers from Munich to Zurich and vice versa would have to change trains in St.Gallen. To compensate, the SBB should extend individual IC5 trains, some of which already terminate in Zurich from western Switzerland, to St.Gallen.

The SBB denies this

It would be a drastic move that would significantly reduce demand. This has steadily increased in recent years and the trains are often fully booked. It remains to be seen whether travelers from Zurich and Winterthur to Munich and vice versa would prefer to take the train in St.Gallen instead of the long-distance bus for the entire journey, which covers the route more reliably and cheaply.

It would also be a kind of bankruptcy declaration: Switzerland co-financed the expansion and electrification of the route in Germany. By the end of 2021, the expansion could, at least in theory, reduce travel time from four to three and a half hours. From December 2023, the offer was expanded with a seventh daily pair of trains.

Only: the story is not true. SBB spokeswoman Sabrina Schellenberg denies the DMM article. “There are no plans to shorten the Eurocity in St.Gallen,” she says. However, the railway is still not satisfied with the operational stability and is doing everything it can to improve the situation with its partner railways DB and ÖBB.

Reservations are required

The latest measure was to extend the waiting time for delayed trains from Germany in St. Margrethen. Even if you arrive up to 10 minutes late, you now keep your route to Zurich. Previously, the deadline was five minutes. If the delay lasts longer, the Eurocity’s will be rerouted, which usually means a delay of 30 minutes at the destination.

Further measures are planned. Well-informed circles assume that from 2025 the trains on the St.Gallen-Zürich route will no longer appear in the timetable, but that the stop in St.Gallen can only be used to get off from Germany. To this end, additional IC5 trains will run between St.Gallen and Zurich, so that commuters within Switzerland no longer suffer from the poor punctuality of the trains, but do not have to accept a reduction in service. Sabrina Schellenberg does not comment on this, but says that the Eurocity should continue to operate on its current regular route. Variants with an extension of travel time have been investigated, but will not be investigated further.

In the short term there will be a first in rail traffic with Germany: between June 1 and October 5 of this year, international travelers will be required to make a reservation between Zurich and Munich and vice versa for the first time. This should prevent the trains from becoming overcrowded during the European Football Championship in Germany, the summer holidays and the Oktoberfest in Munich. SBB spokeswoman Schellenberg says it is a test.

From June 1 to August 31, the reservation obligation also applies between Germany and the Netherlands. According to Schellenberg, this also has consequences for the ICE trains Basel SBB-Amsterdam and the seating cars on the night trains from Zurich to Amsterdam when the border between Germany and the Netherlands is crossed. However, you do not need to make a reservation for these trains for travel within Switzerland or between Switzerland and Germany.