Swiss Parliament Derails Sleeper Train Revival in Subsidy Vote

Switzerland's abrupt cancellation of a planned Basel-Copenhagen-Malmö night train service has exposed the fragility underpinning Europe's much-touted rail renaissance, as parliamentarians redirected climate funds toward aviation fuel subsidies despite 24,000 petition signatures and tickets already sold.

The National Council's 99-92 vote on 9 December terminated the SBB-operated EuroNight service scheduled to launch 15 April, reversing Federal Office of Transport commitments that had given operators planning security to commence ticket sales in November. The decision strips CHF 10 million from cross-border rail funding under the CO2 Act, automatically reallocating these revenues to so-called sustainable aviation fuels—a sector Lufthansa's chief executive has questioned for uncertain scalability.

SBB acknowledged it cannot operate the 1,400-kilometre route without subsidies, citing high rolling stock costs and track access charges that render night trains structurally unprofitable despite passenger enthusiasm. The operator must now refund bookings for the tri-weekly service that would have connected Switzerland to Scandinavia via stops in Freiburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Copenhagen Airport.

Opposition parliamentarians argued flights would remain faster and cheaper regardless of rail alternatives, dismissing the connection as an expensive indulgence. Yet transport advocates countered that state support for nascent routes creates market conditions allowing eventual private operation—a model demonstrated when RDC Deutschland rescued the Stockholm-Berlin service after Swedish funding withdrawal, albeit at reduced frequency.

The cancellation compounds difficulties for Austria's ÖBB, Europe's largest night train operator, which recently terminated Paris-Vienna Nightjet services after French subsidy cuts and faces suspensions on Brussels-Berlin and Milan routes. Industry observers estimate a comprehensive European night train network could eliminate three per cent of EU greenhouse gas emissions by displacing short-haul aviation, making Switzerland's redirection of climate funds particularly contentious amongst environmental coalitions.