Regional master plans show the long-term target and possible intermediate stages for infrastructure development at major railway hubs or corridors. They take account of the long-term service and rolling stock strategies as well as planned real estate and development sites. They outline operational and production strategies, infrastructure schemes and allocate areas and tracks to specific needs.

Regional master plans serve the SBB as a basis for securing sites for public territorial development and for negotiation with partners. They ensure that future projects are compatible with subsequent development schemes, guarantee sustainable traffic development and prevent bad investments. They are updated periodically when conditions change. Regional master plans are not construction programmes, do not secure funding and do not trigger any action in terms of project planning.

Regional master plans go beyond the timeframe envisaged by the federal government’s development schemes (e.g. SEB, STEP) and therefore do not coincide with them in terms of scope. Since they depict a long-term target, regional master plans enable measures from the government’s development schemes to be verified to ensure their sustainability and compatibility with this target. Regional master plans do not provide any information on priorities for future development schemes that are under the federal government’s planning authority.

Regional master plans consider the following three horizons:

• The "today" horizon is the starting point for planning work. It builds on the current infrastructure or infrastructure under construction and takes account government schemes (current network usage concept and plans) with planned infrastructure and their associated services and rolling stocks.
• The "tomorrow" horizon refers to subsequent development stages not yet approved by the federal government.
• The "beyond" horizon represents long-term target for infrastructure development.

The expressions "tomorrow" and "beyond" define two time horizons without specifying when the outcome they describe will occur. This imprecision is deliberate and is intended to show the secondary importance of when a certain planning outcome is achieved. What is important, though, is the goal to be achieved and the pathway to that goal.

1. Determine the requirements: Defining the limits and key influencing factors, setting out the development of services and the functional requirements for installations.
   
2. Establish the strategic objective: Identifying capacity bottlenecks and working out possible solutions, defining a corresponding operating concept with traffic flows and the layout of installations, deciding on the most suitable solution and presenting compatible sub-steps.
   
3. Flesh out the framework plan: Describing the operating and production concept in detail, allocating spaces to different uses, working out the scale of public installations, presenting the geometric feasibility, defining the space requirement, estimating the cost of any possible expansions.
   
4. Secure the outcome: Producing final reports, incorporating the space requirement into structure and utilisation plans.
   
   

Basel is a fast-growing economic region and a hub for transport by rail, road, water and air. The Basel regional master plan sets out solutions and possible step-by-step approaches for developing the existing railway infrastructure, taking into account traffic development as a whole. The Basel regional master plan is currently being revised.

Lucerne’s urban agglomeration is home to around 200,000 people. It is the heart of an innovative, thriving and internationally oriented economic region. The Lucerne regional master plan sets out solutions and possible step-by-step approaches for developing the existing railway infrastructure, taking into account traffic development as a whole.

Investigations have shown that it is virtually impossible to increase the capacity of the existing track network by means of small-scale measures that can be implemented swiftly. The Lucerne regional master plan envisages building the city’s through station in two stages – first of all as a terminus with a tunnel under the lake and a connection in the Ebikon area, then adding a connecting spur to the main lines to the north. This will pave the way for new regional and long-distance through-services with shorter travel times.

The rapid development of the area along the shores of Lake Zug has already led to services being expanded in the past (Stadtbahn Zug). The attractiveness of the various urban centres along the Zurich–Zug–Lucerne axis, both as places to work and as residential and recreational locations, is continuing to drive a significant increase in traffic.

The rail system in the Zug area has reached the limit of its capacity. Stepping up services even to a moderate extent requires infrastructural development. A four-track system (implemented in stages) on the Baar–Zug–Chollermüli line is needed, as is phase II of the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel be-tween Litti and Thalwil.

The central Switzerland regional master plan shows what the long-term foreseeable traffic flows and the required railway infrastructure capacity in Central Switzerland will look like. Various studies have shown that in addition to phase II of the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel and the Lucerne through station, further infrastructure measures are necessary to ensure that the physical quantities can be operated “the day after tomorrow”.

The Zimmerberg Base Tunnel II is expected to be included in the STEP 2030/35 expansion phase. The Lucerne through station is planned for a later expansion phase.

The opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in December 2016, the Ferrovia Mendrisio–Varese (Mendrisio–Varese rail link) in December 2017 and the Ceneri Base Tunnel in December 2020 will lead to a further rise in the volume of traffic passing through southern Ticino. SBB and TILO are gradually expanding passenger services in Ticino and the cross-border connections to the Milan metropolitan area. The implementation of the federal government’s road-to-rail transfer policy is likely to result in additional growth in the volume of rail freight travelling via Chiasso. Chiasso station is being expanded to accommodate the improvements to services scheduled to be implemented by 2025. A further increase in traffic would take the rail system in the Chiasso area to the limit of its capacity. The Chiasso framework plan ensures that there is scope for improvements to services later on and structural upgrades to Chiasso’s passenger and freight station and for the access route to the north.

The opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in December 2016, the Ceneri Base Tunnel in December 2020 and the Locarno-Lugano link line in Camorino will lead to a further rise in the volume of traffic in Locarno. Passenger services in Ticino are gradually being expanded. With improvements to services scheduled to be implemented by 2035, Locarno station will reach its capacity limit. The Locarno regional master plan ensures that there is scope for subsequent improvements to services and structural expansions.

Organisational and efficiency-enhancing measures are required at Schaffhausen station to develop further services. Parking capacities need to be expanded and certain tracks need to be extended for 750-metre transit freight trains. In addition, sections of the freight station are to be made available for urban development. Further capacity increases will be needed on the southern approach to the Schaffhausen node around Neuhausen after 2040.

Biel/Bienne station is an important hub on the foot-of-the-Jura line. Large areas of land, both in the centre and in the suburbs are currently used for rail operations.

SBB has analysed how the services planned by the railway undertakings will impact on the requisite tracks and the sites necessary for rail operations, such as maintenance installations for rolling stock and infrastructure.

In this case, the investigation indicates that, as things stand, no larger sites can be freed up in the Biel/Bienne hub in the medium term, i.e. between now and 2035-40. It will only be possible to consider freeing up part of the site around the sidings at the passenger station if and when the maintenance installation for passenger rolling stock has to be relocated from the triangular junction near Madretsch to the site of the former marshalling yard sometime in the future.

Romanshorn station is an important hub on Lake Constance and can be found at one end of the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway. Organisational and efficiency-enhancing measures are required in order to expand services further.

In Romanshorn, the car park needs to be expanded and tracks made available for 750-metre-long transit freight trains. Roads are to be modified to further optimise operating processes. New track crossings and an optional sixth platform edge will ensure that the passenger station is able to cope with demands in the long term. In addition, parts of the port complex are to be freed up for urban development under the overall strategy for Eastern Switzerland.

The Chur regional master plan shows the final outcome of a potential staged development plan to ensure that high railway infrastructure performance can be maintained in the future. Solutions have been found to manage the improvements to services foreseeable in the long-term.

Preference was given to infrastructure and resource-efficient solutions to ensure the highest possible degree of planning security and independence.

The relocation of the loading platform for freight services from the Chur urban area (Kettweg) to Ems creates potential for urban development.

A new track layout in the passenger station and goods yard will eliminate operating conflicts, provide greater planning flexibility and optimise operating procedures. Public facilities will also be upgraded in line with expected increases in use.

The expansion of passenger services will also mean more rolling stock. To provide space for the resulting additional storage capacity that will be required, new storage sidings will be built between Landquart and Chur stations.

Federal government forecasts indicate that the number of passengers at Winterthur station will almost double over the next 30 to 40 years. To ensure the station can meet the growing demand for services, platforms 6/7 and 8/9 must be widened by the 2045/2050 horizon. It will also be necessary to increase track capacity at a later stage. In collaboration with the City of Winterthur, the development strategy for the station has been aligned with the spatial and settlement development of the surrounding urban area and takes into account the requirements of the city with regard to functionality and the appearance of the station.

Two different types of extension are being considered for the necessary widening of platforms 6/7 and 8/9: The first option involves shifting tracks 7 to 9 towards Rudolfstrasse. In this case, the functionality of the urban space and the design possibilities for recreational space are limited. The second option is to shift all the platforms towards Bahnhofplatz. As a result, Rudolfstrasse will not be narrowed but half of platform 3 will have to be integrated into the listed station building and the bay platform 2 will be lost. The best option will be decided at a later date (by 2035 at the latest) on the basis of additional in-depth studies.

To increase the track capacity, SBB and the City of Winterthur have decided on an approach that retains the seven through tracks at the station, while adding a terminus station in the Voselsang Nord area. In addition to the terminus station, this will enable the area to meet its potential as an urban development. An underground four-track through station is to be secured as a potential option for a sustainable and demand-oriented redevelopment of Winterthur station.

Solothurn is the most important rail hub in the canton of Solothurn after Olten. Situated at the southern foot of the Jura mountains and the place where six lines from five directions converge, it is a perfect transport hub.

Solothurn station requires performance-enhancing measures to deal with further service expansion. The capacity of its public facilities will have to be increased to accommodate more frequent services. The western and eastern approaches and exits will have to be redesigned to permit conflict-free train movements. Freight facilities must also be capable of handling 750m trains. The master plan also factors in urban developments near the station and the new-build RBS station. Moreover, subplots will be released for further urban development.

Thun station is shared by SBB and BLS. It is used for long-distance, regional and freight services. In addition to Thun, the master plan also covers the Aare valley line as far as Gümligen. Work focused on increasing capacity on the Aare valley line by expanding it to four tracks, creating a new Thun North station and remodelling the approach to Thun station. The public facilities were also re-dimensioned to cope with future passenger flows and the marshalling yard was optimised for more efficient operation. Moreover, subplots will be released for further urban development.

Burgdorf station is an important transport hub on the edge of Emmental and designed to handle S-Bahn traffic. The master plan includes public facilities capable of dealing with long-term service development, while freight facilities have been designed for express freight trains. Other important considerations were adequately large sidings and higher speeds on the station approaches and exits. In addition, subplots will be released for further urban development.

Yverdon-les-Bains station is in the second largest town in the canton of Vaud and is an important junction on the foot-of-the-Jura line. It is where the line from Payerne and Fribourg and the narrow-gauge line from Sainte-Croix meet the main line, and also a stop on a large number of PostBus and urban public transport routes. Apart from the railway station, the SBB workshops in Yverdon-les-Bains are a key part of the city's history and its working past. This regional master plan does not deal with its future.

The public facilities at Yverdon station will be unable to cope with the expected increase in traffic on the foot-of-the-Jura line. More platform lines will be needed and these platforms will have to be extended so that they will eventually be able to accommodate 400-metre trains.

Freight activities, especially during the autumn sugar beet harvests, will be largely transferred to Onnens-Bonvillars, which will become the regional training centre.