The challenge: mobility is becoming more volatile

Mobility is undergoing a great transformation and will continue to change. The coronavirus pandemic has changed people’s routines and ways of working. Work and leisure will be increasingly intertwined. In future, fewer people will commute, while more people will travel in their leisure time. Overall, there will be much greater mobility, but it will also become less predictable and thus more volatile. Sustainability and fighting climate change are also important drivers of change: the environment will have a greater influence on people’s choice of transport and the government will work to increase rail’s modal split of passenger and freight traffic. The infrastructure improvements we need will push up our costs, while rolling stock requires significant investment. Meanwhile, new travel habits and forms of mobility pose challenges to our sources of income. These dynamics will force us to be more flexible. We have to design the services we offer around these new travel habits. We also have to increase productivity and make efficient use of public funds. This is how we will make sure rail remains both attractive and affordable.

Our aim is to significantly overhaul and improve our work in four dimensions by 2030 to provide an integrated and robust railway service:

• We will make the railway system more flexible for our customers – trains will run according to demand, with additional services provided on the basis of the tried-and-tested clock-face schedule. We will integrate different forms of mobility into our digital platforms and our railway stations.
• We will achieve smart growth in our core business; that means using rail’s natural strengths – i.e. fast passenger and freight transport over longer distances and in the conurbations. This requires strong, robust rail infrastructure.
• We also want to increase our efficiency and make SBB economically sustainable in the long term. By doing so, we will make a valuable contribution to the sustainable financing of the system and to providing public transport as a public service that meets demand.
• We want to be leaders in all areas of sustainability. Our railway is to be run by people, for people: for customers, employees and society. We will contribute to achieving Switzerland’s sustainability goals via our service design, investment and procurement activity.