Dangerous goods.

Transporting dangerous goods safely by rail.

Each year, 15 million tonnes of dangerous goods are transported across the SBB network. In order to ensure the appropriate level of safety, SBB adheres to all statutory requirements, supplementing them with additional safety-related technical procedures.

In Switzerland, a majority of all shipments of dangerous goods go by rail, since rail transport is both very safe and has an extremely low impact on the environment. Most dangerous goods are flammable liquids such as petrol and heating oil; the rest are chemical products and gases.

When handling dangerous transports, SBB adheres to the "Regulations concerning the carriage of dangerous goods by rail", which has been ratified by 45 countries. In order to reduce risk even further, each year the SBB team responsible for monitoring dangerous shipments inspects on site some 7,000 wagons used for transporting dangerous substances – vehicles belonging to all of the rail companies using the SBB network – to ensure they adhere to statutory requirements. In addition, inspection procedures are carried out automatically on trains as they pass through the network.

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