FDRI: setting the political agenda.
The FDRI package of upgrades is the successor project to Rail 2000.
The National Council and Council of States approved the Federal Act on the Future Development of the Railway Infrastructure (FDRIO) in 2009 and approved a CHF 5.4 billion loan (price basis 04/2005) for the FDRI project from the FinPT fund (FinöV).
The detailed planning work by the FOT and SBB meant that the FDRI projects subsequently had to be re-prioritised. In particular, the Chestenberg Tunnel project on the Aarau–Zurich line is to be swapped with the upgrade of the Lausanne railway junction. Parliament will have to rule on the revision of the FDRI act.
To coordinate the amendments with later stages of upgrade work, the revision of the FDRI act is to be part of the draft bill 'Financing and Upgrading Switzerland’s Rail Infrastructure' (FABI). FABI is a draft bill put forward by the Federal Council and is designed to regulate the upgrading and financing of the railway infrastructure following FDRI. FABI was passed by a large parliamentary majority in summer 2013. A majority of 62 per cent of the Swiss electorate approved FABI on 9th February 2014.
Nevertheless: the federal government and SBB has pressed on with the FDRI projects not affected by the changes. The first package of measures implementing FDRI was approved by the Federal Council on 30 June 2011, the second on 21 September 2012, and the third on 13 September 2013.